EPA Identifies Source Of Noxious Odor In Mecca
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday it had pinpointed the source of a foul smell that has plagued the small town in the eastern Coachella Valley of Southern California.
The EPIA ordered Western Environmental, Inc., to take immediate steps to address what it called “potentially harmful emissions” coming from its Mecca waste handling facility.
The facility is located on the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians Reservation.
“To protect the local community including nearby schools, EPA has ordered Western Environmental to take immediate action to eliminate this potential health threat,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “The order requires the facility to stop accepting any additional contaminated soils or biosolids without prior EPA approval.”
Mounds of untreated contaminated soil have accumulated at the site and now stand more than forty-feet high.
Read: EPA’s Written Order On Western Environmental In Mecca
In December 2010, after receiving complaints of odors that sent people to the hospital, the air district and the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health dispatched staff to perform air sampling in the community and at the facility.
The EPA is working closely with the Cabazon tribe, the State of California and the South Coast Air Quality Management District to coordinate response actions.
Monday’s order was issued under the authority of the federal Resource Conservation & Recovery Act. It follows a public meeting in Mecca on April 28, 2011 where EPA officials heard directly from community members about the odors’ impacts on their health.
The EPA Administrative Order against Western Environmental and a related company, Waste Reduction Technologies, sets forth immediate measures and a schedule to control the source of odors from the Western Environmental facility. The order requires the facility to use stabilizing agents or cover sheeting on the stockpiled material to prevent the release of noxious air emissions.
It comes only two days after U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) wrote a poignant letter to the EPA addressing the situation in Mecca.
On Monday, Boxer released a statement saying she was pleased the end of the odor was in sight.
“Last week, I urged EPA to take immediate steps to address the overpowering emissions coming from the waste facility,” Boxer wrote, “which has mounds of untreated contaminated soil standing more than 40 feet high.
“This enforcement action and steps taken today by the State of California are necessary to protect the health and safety of children and families in the community of Mecca, and I will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that Western Environmental cleans up the source of pollution at this site.”
