"It Stinks Around Here"

From Chester Spotlight - April 3, 2009 - Page 9

Am I the only person who thinks it stinks around here. I’m getting sick of the air smelling like sour milk. I work in a refinery so I’m used to bad air but I would prefer to leave those odors at the gate. However, too often in the last several months, I’ve been getting a whiff of real bad air throughout all of Chester.

Obviously, the stench is coming from our trash incinerator located on the river front. As a responsible business, they are regulated to control the emission and odors that they emit. Emissions are monitored electronically but only the nose can detect an odor.

If you are as disgusted with our smelly city as I am, call the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and tell them that something stinks around here. They’ll come out and assess the situation if enough of you call during the time of the funky releases.

Make an Environmental Complaint?
You can file a complaint easily and confidentially in one of two ways-contacting your service representative or access a form electronically. The complaint service representative for the Southeast Region is JoAnn Ache and she can be reached at (484) 250-5991, or call DEP's toll-free citizen complaint line at (866) 255-5158.

The service representative is your single point of contact to report a concern and acts as a liaison for citizens who no longer have to attempt to figure out what program would handle a particular issue. The representative will listen to your concerns and possibly ask some additional questions. This information will then be entered onto a statewide database.

Please be assured that your name, address and phone number will be kept strictly confidential (or if you prefer, you may remain anonymous). Your complaint will then be assigned to one or more of our programs for investigation. Within a few days, you will receive a letter acknowledging our receipt of the complaint.

After the complaint is investigated, you will receive a second letter advising you of the investigation results and what corrective action (if any) is being requested, along with DEP's proposed follow-up.