Wednesday, July 20, 2005

DNR to open temporary office in Carthage

Tired of having to travel from Jefferson City or Springfield or Neosho to Carthage to check on the latest odor complaints, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced today it will open a temporary office here on or before Aug. 1. The state agency will rent an office from the city of Carthage at Memorial Hall, according to a news release.
"Opening an extra office in Carthage will enable staff to provide routine odor surveillance throughout the day," said DNR Director Doyle Childers. "The department will also have the opportunity to address compliance issues with Carthage area industries. We have a satellite office in Neosho. However, this additional office in Carthage will give us the ability and opportunity to respond more quickly to odor complaints."
The news release continues, "Odor issues are a continuing concern in the Carthage area. In late March, the department and city officials from Carthage met with ConAgra, ADM Milling, Schreiber Foods and Renewable Environmental Solutions to discuss the odor issues in the industrial area. Daily surveillance of the Carthage area began on April 1.
"In recent months, the department issued a Notice of Excess Emissions to Schreiber Foods and also issued five NOEEs to RES. Three of the NOEEs to RES were upgraded to Notice of Violations. The Schreiber NOEE was found to be the result of equipment malfunction. On April 20, investigators conducted compliance inspections of RES, ConAgra, ADM Milling and Schreiber Foods to evaluate each facility for water or air pollution compliance concerns. Reports on those findings were submitted to each facility."

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