SPRINGFIELD, GA – It’s been nearly six months since DRT launched gettoknowdrt.com, our website dedicated to providing information to the community in which we live and work. Our goals remain the same: to be a good neighbor; to be as transparent as possible, including owning things we could do better; and keeping everyone informed about our operations. We thought this would be a good time to provide a few key updates.
Trinity Consultants is completing its comprehensive evaluation of odors in and around DRT’s Springfield facility, and we expect to receive Trinity’s report by the end of May, nearly a full month ahead of schedule.
Weather: The weather plays a major role in what people smell and when. Weather inversions can concentrate odors near the ground because the air isn’t circulating normally, leading to stronger smells in a particular area. We saw that happen when we changed feedstock (more on that below) during the nights and early mornings of April 30 and May 1. There have also been times where we’ve smelled something that was not coming from our facility, but the odor settled in the area. These occurrences seem particularly affected by the weather and time of day.
Wastewater basin bypass: Although compliant with applicable permits, DRT made the decision to entirely enclose our wastewater process, permanently bypassing the open basins used to store wastewater until trucked offsite. Phase 1 was completed in late February and we’re now finishing Phase 2 – tying the tank to the plant’s emission controls to further minimize potential odors during venting. We expect Phase 2 to be completed by the end of this month, and anticipate it will mitigate odors related to changes in feedstock and weather inversions. You can read more about it here.
Odors: DRT is committed to doing its best to eliminate systemic odors emanating from the plant. As an operating industrial facility, however, sometimes minor incidents occur and weather conditions cause normal operations to emit odors that are noticeable. In fact, in the last two weeks we posted on the website (and notified local leaders) of two events. The first was a failed seal that leaked a small amount of finished product, which was fully contained, and the second was a change in feedstock that caused odors during the nights and early mornings of April 30 and May 1. We’re dedicated to informing you when we have operational issues, even when it might not reflect well on us.
Openness: We’re not just open on the web. We’ve opened our doors to local, state, and federal lawmakers, business leaders, community leaders, and have been cooperative with and responsive to the media. In March, we had nearly a dozen local and state fire inspectors examine the facility with no citations. We believe strongly that misinformation is damaging, and are committed to sharing facts, we well as acting responsibly and neighborly.
We hope you regularly visit our website or reach out to us with questions or concerns at drtspringfield@gmail.com.