FORT SMITH, Ark. — Fort Smith residents who have posted online about a pervasive and foul smell throughout the area may finally have an answer after Russellville-based water treatment company Denali Water Solutions and city officials released statements on Oct. 14.
In a statement provided to 5NEWS, Denali said a lagoon where they are repurposing food processing residuals into fertilizer for nearby farms is in the process of being emptied, which is likely the cause of the smell noticed by residents. Denali said they are taking every possible measure to work quickly and minimize odors.
"As we work on emptying this lagoon, we recognize that at times, aspects of agriculture can produce odors," a Denali spokesperson said. "Across Denali’s operations, we take every possible measure to minimize odor and we are diligently working to finish emptying the lagoon."
In a separate statement, the City of Fort Smith said the lagoon cleanup project is in the Arkansas River bottoms in Crawford County.
"Now I want to be clear, this work is not being done in Sebastian County. It's not being done in Fort Smith. Unfortunately, the way the wind has been traveling the last several days, the east wind has caused it to carry over into Fort Smith, and that is the foul odor that people are smelling," Josh Buchfink, Public Relations Manager for the City of Fort Smith, told 5NEWS.
With an uptick in resident complaints about the odor, Buchfink said they plan to notify residents ahead of time when future cleanouts happen. However, he said this project was a little bit stronger than usual this time around.
"This case, in particular, was a little worse than normal because we were told that they had to dilute the water in order to pump it out, which took a little bit longer," Buchfink said. "The process took longer, and so that's why people are complaining more often this time."
Buchfink said these cleanups normally happen in the winter months when people aren't typically outside activities.
"[The companies] try to be mindful of that, and I know the company that is doing it right now is definitely apologetic for the smell, but really, what they're providing is a resource for those companies to get rid of their waste in an appropriate and really eco-friendly manner," Buchfink said.
Although it is an overall nuisance for residents nearby, Buchfink said the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) confirmed to the city that the smell is not hazardous to the public.
Denali and the city said the lagoon cleanup will wrap up within 10 days.
According to documents submitted by Denali to ADEQ, the work on the lagoon began on Sept. 24. As of Oct. 10, Denali said over 3 million gallons have been removed from the lagoon.
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