The Cherokee County Health Department is now monitoring odors coming from the landfill in Galena, Kansas, in response to concerns from residents.
They've been complaining of two odors. One is a rotten-egg smell that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment identified as hydrogen sulfide gas. The second was a smoky smell from a smouldering fire, but residents say it has now evolved into the smell of burning asphalt and rubber. The county's air monitors are looking for other air particles and Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs.
KDHE and the Environmental Protection Agency did air monitoring for one day. They found very low levels of specific chemical substances, including hydrogen sulfide gas.
Peyton Kessler is the Cherokee County Health Department's administrator. She said Galena residents should have transparency from the agencies involved in mitigation.
"If that traditional scope is not providing the results that they need to review, then I feel that it is their due diligence to extend that testing to try to find if there is something else outside of what they are looking for that could be causing those problems," she said.
The data from the health department's monitoring is accessible to the public. Ashley Wells with the group Galena, KS Neighbors for Clean Air regularly posts the results on the group's Facebook page. She said seeing the data validates what the residents are smelling and feeling. Residents who live nearby have gotten backlash about exaggerating the problem.
“Now we're getting some data here that's backing this up,” Wells said. “This is present. This is here. This is a real thing.”
The city of Galena owns the landfill and Jordan Disposal operates it. KDHE previously requested Jordan Disposal develop an excavation plan and complete it by June 19. The exact process for excavation is unclear.
KDHE did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation on the excavation's progress.
Jordan Disposal is involved in pending litigation with residents who allege the smell has hurt their property values. One lawsuit filed in April alleges that the landfill's odors caused property damage to 1,302 residential households. The case was filed through the U.S District Court for the District of Kansas.
Some residents also filed a petition through the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for more air monitoring. Kessler wrote a petition on behalf of the health department.
Rachel Schnelle reports on Missouri and Kansas issues for KRPS.
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