The DRT plant transforms a renewable byproduct of the paper industry, derived from traditional wood harvesting, into ingredients used in consumer perfumery products and the food and beverage industry.
The DRT plant is in an industrial park in Effingham County, Georgia near the towns of Rincon and Springfield.
Perfume manufacturers, food and beverage companies.
We have never used chemicals such as PFAS or mercury in our manufacturing process.
DRT’s manufacturing process does not generate HAPs. Emissions from DRT are not hazardous – what we make is used by several consumer industries, including perfumery, food and beverage, adhesives, coatings, and construction industries.
We fully understand the concerns about odors, and as a good neighbor, we have invested significant resources in the past year to ensure we limit odors from the manufacturing process. At this point, it’s clear the odors are coming from somewhere else. That’s why we’ve urged county officials to establish a task force to find the real source of the odors once and for all.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Georgia EPD have conducted investigations to determine the source of odors generating recent complaints and to determine if there are any air quality violations that may be causing people to become ill. The EPD and EPA have not identified any air quality violations by DRT.
Our plant operations are the same day and night.
DRT welcomes the presence of EPA to help get to the bottom of odors in the area. We agreed to allow the EPA to place monitors on our property, in order to fully support this effort.
No. All wastewater from our site is trucked to another location for treatment. We do not put production wastewater – or chemicals – into the river or groundwater.
If we know we have a problem onsite, we alert the EPD and local community leaders right away about the incident and an expected time of resolution. All employees are trained in emergency response.
DRT uses equipment to reduce VOC and sulfur emissions, aligned with the best practices for emission control. All vapors are properly treated, including from plant processing equipment and storage tank vents, before any release in the atmosphere. The treatment follows DRT’s air permit and all EPD state guidelines. The manufacturing processes at the plant cannot operate unless these emission controls are functioning.
The DRT facility complies with multiple permits covering air emissions and water issued by the state EPD. The facility is covered by state and federal regulatory requirements for its safe and environmentally compliant operation.
The security measures are to protect the safety of our employees and the plant. This is an operating manufacturing plant and only authorized personnel have access.
What you are seeing is steam which comes from our boiler, as well as from our emissions control system, which ensures all vapors are properly treated before they exit the plant. We run our emissions control systems even when the plant is not operating to ensure no odors are emitted. Our entire production process is also enclosed to capture all vapors.
The cause is still undetermined.
Stainless steel packing that had been cleaned and was being stored.
Firefighters used aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) to extinguish the fire. We’ve secured the site against rainfall to ensure the foam doesn’t get into the waterway. We will remediate the area where the pallets are stored.
Please email us with any questions, or odor complaints at drtspringfield@gmail.com