Arizona officials to determine cause of bad smells in West Valley
Mar 6, 2018, 4:44 AM | Updated: 10:45 am
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX — Arizona officials will soon start conducting tests to determine the cause of some bad odors in the West Valley.
West Valley residents have harped for the last year and a half over the odors in their neck of the woods.
Residents want to blame the Hickman’s Egg Ranch in Buckeye.
According to The Arizona Republic, residents and community groups have filed multiple lawsuits contending that the ranch’s chickens “create dust, feathers, flies and a ‘sickening stink,'” while the egg producer argued in a countersuit that its farms are not to blame.
But Timothy Franquist, the air quality director at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, told KTAR News 92.3 FM that other factors could be at play.
Franquist said other animal feed operations and a refuse transfer facility could also be playing a part in the smelly scents.
In order to get to the bottom of this, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is testing the air in the West Valley to see what the smell is all about.
Franquist said the department will be monitoring the air for ammonia and hydrosulfide, also known as the colorless and poisonous gas that has the characteristic odor of rotten eggs.
Officials will monitor 13 sites. Testing for ammonia will be done once a week for five weeks, while testing for hydrogen sulfide will be done once a day for two weeks.
They are using the Arizona Ambient Air Quality guidelines to find out whether the smell is just a nuisance or is an actual public health issue.
Franquist said the department hopes to let residents know their findings as soon as they are recorded.
KTAR News’ Ali Vetnar contributed to this report.
