City Drops Lawsuit?

The City Council voted to drop the public nuisance lawsuit against Renewable Environmental Solutions LLC (RES), without prejudice. The Carthage Press, Friday August 25, 2006, described the action as Renewable Environmental Solutions is not a public nuisance anymore - at least on paper.

Carthage City Mayor Jim Woestman said, "“We definitely want anybody who smells anything to definitely call. We want to keep that monitoring going. We're not going to forget about it. We're not going to drop the lawsuit and walk away.” "Dismissal without prejudice means that the suit can be filed again if that proved necessary" said Carthage City Attorney, David Mouton.

A press release from Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon and Carthage City Mayor Jim Woestman, issued Thursday, August 24, 2006, said that "RES had made significant progress toward reducing odors and returning a higher quality of life to the residents of Carthage." The statement also noted that many of the changes at the plant came as a result of a preliminary consent judgement the City and State reached with RES in May 2005. Those projects, including a thermal oxidizer and a high-efficiency scrubber, cost the company more than $3 million."The Joplin Globe, Friday, August 25, 2006.

DNR Tells Us We're Not Smelling It!

"The DNR tells us we're not smelling it when we are smelling it" said Carthage City Councilman Ronnie Wells. Councilman Wells was expressing his frustration with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). He said that the MDNR is not there on weekends and when they do get there the smell is gone because of the time difference from the call.

Bill Bryan, Missouri Attorney General's Office attended the Carthage City Council Meeting (Tuesday, August 22, 2006), to discuss the pending "Public Nuisance" lawsuit against Renewable Environmental Solutions, LLC (RES). He asked whether to "go to trial or do we have a satisfactory situation." Mr Bryan said that "If the problems (re)occur, we'll be back. We will jump on RES with both feet as hard and fast as we can."

Bryan said that the efforts of the suit had proven to be effective in that RES has taken better odor control measures, but added that there had still been reports of some odor emissions. Bryan said, "We can't smell your problem in Jefferson City," indicating that the City and residents must be responsible enough to make complaints, as timely as possible. Carthage Press, Wednesday, August 23, 2006.

The Joplin Globe, Thursday, August 24, 2006, reported that there have been sixteen complaints about odors in Carthage reported to MDNR since July 1st. The most recent complaints were reported Monday, August 21, 2006, from residents who said that they smelled the odors over the weekend.

Local resident, Tricia Orr said "I'm terrified that if the city drops the lawsuit, the company (RES) will go back to operating like they were and creating such an odor. " She explained that her primary concern "is that the city lawsuit is the only leverage we have left to keep them operating without significant odor. I don't think that they're afraid of MDNR, so this is the last thing they've got hanging over their heads."