"They're Supposed to Let me Know When They Have a Problem"

The Carthage Press, Monday, November 6, 2006, reported that valve problems at Renewable Environmental Solutions LLC (RES) led to multiple complaints last week. The article quoted Mark Radar, Chief of the Water, Air and Land section of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), affirming that MDNR "staff have noted more intense odors of late, but have not obtained the detections through the scentometer as required by regulation to classify the odors as excessive."

Carthage Mayor Jim Woestman expressed concern with RES that it took several days for managament to respond to his inquiries. "They're supposed to let me know when they have a problem." Mark Radar said that he was told by RES that "there have been a few malfunctions and failures of equipment that were located and corrected."

Since the presence of odors were documented over several days, I suspect that we're back to the guessing game, Who Stinks, Not Me game. Why didn't RES shut down if a valve was broken? Why would we expect RES to call Mayor Woestman and tell him there was a problem when they don't even admit it is theirs.