EPA issues emergency order to stop odor that residents near NC-SC line say sickens them
Federal environmental officials on Thursday issued an emergency order against a South Carolina pulp and paper mill to stop an odor that’s sickened residents in the Carolinas for many months, including Rock Hill and parts of south Charlotte.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered New-Indy Containerboard of Catawba, S.C. — which is just southeast of Rock Hill — to immediately lower hydrogen sulfide emissions and monitor the air in communities surrounding the plant, according to an EPA news release.
Residents in areas along the state line have said the pungent odor has infiltrated their homes, causing headaches and sore throats, according to posts on a Facebook page dedicated to the odor.
The EPA also will begin monitoring the air in the greater Rock Hill area and into North Carolina this week, as requested by various state and local agencies and the Rock Hill-based Catawba Indian Nation, EPA officials said.
“The steps taken by EPA today are necessary to address levels of hydrogen sulfide that have impacted residents along the North Carolina and South Carolina border, and Catawba Indian Nation,” John Blevins, EPA acting administrator of the Atlanta regional office said in a statement.
The EPA issued the emergency order under provisions of the federal Clean Air Act.
Resident Chris Stulginsky of Fort Mill, S.C., told The Charlotte Observer he was “cautiously optimistic” the EPA’s actions are “the first step in the right direction to protect the people of our community and ensure all involved are safe.”
On April 27, Stulginsky contacted the Observer to say he awoke that morning woke up “to the stench of rotten eggs” again in his neighborhood. “I drove to work in Steele Creek, same smell,” he said at the time.
The agency said it has worked on the investigation with S.C. and N.C. health officials and Mecklenburg County Air Quality. cooperation that “emphasizes the agencies’ full commitment to restoring the area’s air quality,”
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday said he had asked the EPA and S.C. officials to address the problem. “I appreciate their efforts to investigate and find a solution,” Cooper said on Twitter.
New-Indy has until Tuesday to submit a draft of its plan showing how it’s going to reduce its emissions to federally acceptable levels. A final plan is due by May 24, and the company would have five days to comply with the final plan once the EPA OKs it.
Under the order, New-Indy also must immediately notify the EPA if it exceeds permitted levels and submit daily documentation of its air monitoring data. Weekly summary reports also will be required.
On May 7, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control ordered New-Indy to submit an outdoor air quality monitoring plan.
Since mid-April, EPA technical teams have been in the Rock Hill area investigating residents’ complaints, the agency said.
New-Indy officials didn’t respond to a request for comment by The Charlotte Observer on Thursday. A woman who answered the phone said company officials weren’t giving media interviews “at this time.”
Tony Hobson, New-Indy vice president of manufacturing, previously disputed claims that his plant is to blame for the odor.
New-Indy hired an outside firm that found no chemical compounds “in any meaningful concentration that would equate to intense odors,” Hobson wrote on April 16 to Myra Reece, South Carolina director of environmental affairs, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by the Observer.
“Weston Solutions personnel did not detect off-site, mill-type odors, but did detect odors from a fire, and sewage-related odors,” Hobson wrote.
The EPA and S.C. and N.C. health officials said their investigations clearly showed the emissions causing the odor were from New-Indy.
This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 5:56 PM.