A dump known for sparking concerns from Milpitas residents over its stinky odors must fork over roughly a quarter million dollars in air quality fines. Full story here.
All posts by Milpitas
Air District funding deep data analysis of mysterious odor in Milpitas
A molecular-level study is going to be launched to pinpoint a mysterious odor that has fouled Milpitas neighborhoods for years. Despite past studies, it has been difficult to pinpoint the source or sources. Full story here.
Milpitas community odor monitoring & Study
The city of Milpitas will go through a year long odor study from Nov 2019 to Oct 2020. It is vital that you report any odor to the various agencies. Read more about this odor study on here. Instructions on how to report odor is on our website also.
Here is the city’s announcement on fb:
City Staff are going out weekly to conduct odor monitoring for the City’s Community Odor Monitoring Pilot Program.
The City’s study will collaborate with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s (BAAQMD) South Bay Odor Attribution Study, which is occurring at generally the same time. The City’s study focuses on assessing and quantifying odors potentially impacting the community while the BAAQMD study will focus on odors from targeted facilities in and around Milpitas.
South Bay odor stakeholders meeting 10/17
Updates from today’s South Bay Odor Stakeholders meeting:
- BAAQMD Odor Study contract decision delayed to November 20. The public will have an opportunity to review and comment on the contract workplan.
- Newby Island MRF redesign is still under BAAQMD permit review. The building design will exceed new organics regulation. Expect permitting process to take 18 months, and another 12 months for construction. Best case completion date is Q4 2020.
- Annual biosolid move from sewage plant to landfill is on-going 10/9/19-10/29/19. No odor issue found yet.
- Odor uptick in recent months confirmed to Newby Island. Multiple operational issues found – broken MRF doors, misting system, trailer leaks and waste storage outdoors. Violations issued by both LEA and BAAQMD.
See report and photos of MRF violation: https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/swfacilities/Directory/43-AN-0014/Inspection/452889
BAAQMD & LEA response to recent odors
Below is the written response from BAAQMD & LEA regarding the recent increase of odor:
BAAQMD : “We have also been investigating what source(s) may be contributing to the odor spike the last few evenings. Our Inspector was in Milpitas in the evenings this week and observed some trailers at the MRF that were overfilled and contributing to localized odors at the facility. Jay took pictures of the untarped trailers and I can ask him to forward the pictures he took. Regarding the CASP, I will need to check in with our staff to see if there were compliance concerns and get back to you. They also conducted patrols at ZWED and the wastewaster treatment facility but didn’t observe odors from those facilities. “
LEA : “The mild odor we could detect we thought was most likely compost and it was in the afternoon (approximately 2:30 – 3:30 PM). We made this determination based on what direction the prevailing winds were coming from (NW) and where we could detect the odor (SE Milpitas) which is downwind from the compost operations. “
Summary from July 18 South Bay Odor Stakeholders Group meeting
1. BAAQMD will award the contract for South Bay Odor Study at its July 31st board meeting. The study is projected to cost $300-500k. Reps from odor generating facilities were present and supportive of the study.
2. City of Milpitas has hired a consultant to implement odor monitors.
3. BAAQMD logged 162 odor complaints in the last 3 months. Newby Island was the sole confirmed odor source. BAAQMD has issued 16 violations to Newby Island in 2019 YTD.
4. LEA received many complaints on its website. Inspector detected Newby Island MRF and landfill odor. CalRecycle-LEA issued a violation to Newby Island for not covering the working landfill at night.
5. Newby Island MRF redesign is in progress with construction to be completed by 2021.
Official meeting minutes can be found on
http://sbosg.info/archives/
NBC News coverage on city odor study
Milpitas studying why it stinks so bad – Curbed SF
The city of Milpitas stinks—and it’s determined to find out why. Milpitas wants to find out which of several nearby waste facilities, like this one, might be behind the town’s signature odor.
Air District Odor Presentation at Milpitas City Council
Please attend and listen to the Air district update on the Milpitas Odor situation. Your attendance will show BAAQMD and the Milpitas City Council that we are still concerned about the odor pollution issues in Milpitas. Mr. Jack Broadbent, Executive Officer/Air Pollution Control Officer and Mr. Wayne Kino, Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer for Operations will provide an update on recent Air Board (BAAQMD) developments and strategies to help resolve odor problems affecting the City of Milpitas and the southern Bay Area. All are welcomed, particularly impacted residents from Milpitas, Fremont, San Jose and Santa Clara. Date: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 Time: 7:00 PM (see note at bottom) Venue: Milpitas City Hall, Council Chambers, 455 E Calaveras Blvd, Milpitas, CA Agenda Item 10: Receive Odor Update and Presentation from Staff of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Agenda Packet: http://www.ci.milpitas.ca.gov/_pdfs/council/2019/030519/package.pdf Note: As item 10 is scheduled after 2 public hearings, the odor presentation will likely occur after 8pm.
BAAQMD discussion on the Odor
Watch and listen to the BAAQMD Board of Directors discuss the South Bay Odor Issue. Your complaints did not fall on deaf ears.
City of Milpitas is nominating Councilman Nunez for a seat on the BAAQMD Board of Directors. Kindly take a minute to submit letter of support to Andi Jordan at CSC@citiesassociation.org