KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Neighbors near a liquid waste disposal site off Galway St. said odors from the location tend to linger. One neighbor said that he smells it the moment he steps outside his front door.
"Gosh, that's horrible," said Steven Sollars, who lives near the site. "It just hits you in the face with a ton of bricks, and it just stays and lingers. It smells horrible."
The Knoxville site is owned by Liquid Operating Solutions. The company works in non-hazardous liquid waste management, providing grease trap services to restaurants and grocery stores while also providing food waste services.
The Knoxville site specifically focuses on disposing of waste like grease, cooking oil, oily water, grit and wastewater. Justin Mayer, the director of Air Quality Management in Knox County, said work like that can result in odors.
However, he said that odors do not necessarily indicate hazardous health effects.
"An odor in and of itself may not be hazardous to health, and some facilities had odors that have been tested and are deemed not hazardous to health," he said.
He also said the Environmental Protection Agency regulates air quality and companies that may impact it. He also said investigators take complaints seriously, including complaints of odors.
"If they're not complying with the rules and regulations set forth, they do get notices of violation, which tells them what they're doing wrong and how long they have to correct it," said Mayer.
Liquid Operating Solutions has another location in Nashville, and the Metro Public Health Department there said they have not had complaints about the company.
WBIR reached out to the company for this story twice but did not receive any response.