Over the last few months, residents of Madill are never sure just what they will wake up to as they welcome each day. The odor that is prevalent mainly on the northeast side of town is here one day and then gone the next, leaving residents with an uneasy feeling and asking what is really happening in their town.
Over the last few months, residents of Madill are never sure just what they will wake up to as they welcome each day. The odor that is prevalent mainly on the northeast side of town is here one day and then gone the next, leaving residents with an uneasy feeling and asking what is really happening in their town.
As reported by The Madill Record in October and then again in November of 2023, the waste products that are being flushed through the city’s sewer system by ESRO is wreaking havoc at the city waste treatment plant. At the most recent city council meeting held on February 13, resident Nancy Carter spoke about the odor in the city.
“I have made calls to the EPA and the USDA about the smell and ESRO,” Carter said. “They are investigating the company. I have letters from the EPA and the USDA about the odor, and I will continue to work with the EPA and the USDA until the matter is resolved.”
Carter then asked if the City of Madill had fined ESRO and Madill City Manager James Fullinghim stated yes.
“Our city court and the amount of money that we can charge through there is meaningless to large corporations,” Fullighim said. “Even if we fine them every day, it is not going to matter. What can we do against a company like that?”
City Attorney Kristen Speer, who was in attendance at the city council meeting, was asked by Fullinghim to look into possibly “having a stronger fining power against companies like this”. He also wanted Speer to look into the city ordinances that are currently in place to see if ESRO was required by the city to have a system in place to dispose of the waste in a proper manner.
In the November 2023 city council meeting, a representative from ESRO, H.R. manager Toni O’Brien, was present to talk about the situation and how it is going to be remedied. ESRO stated that a temporary Dissolved Air Flotation (DAFT) system would be in place within a few weeks, and then a more permanent DAFT system would be put in place within six months from then.
This is how ESRO said they will treat the waste before being sent to the city treatment plant. The temporary DAFT system is in place and is currently being used according to Fullinghim. However, the company is not always using the system to dispose of the waste therefore causing issues at the city waste treatment plant that takes days to work out.
The residents are concerned, not only about the odor but the toxins that are in the air and even making its way into homes and businesses. There have also been photos and videos circulating showing the pollution in Little Glasses Creek, where the city waste treatment plant is permitted by DEQ to discharge treated wastewater in the creek.
While the city itself is trying to take steps to alleviate the problem, residents have continued to grow impatient about the situation and the handling of the matter. On February 20, at 3:00 p.m. Fullinghim, a representative from ESRO, and an engineer had a closed-door meeting about the current situation and what can and needs to be done to correct the problem.
When residents heard about the meeting, there were several who were concerned as to why the meeting was closed and not open to the public. Willa Dean Caldwell expressed her concerns in a phone call to The Madill Record.
“Why is it a closed-door meeting,” Caldwell asked. “I have talked to other city council members, and they were not aware of the meeting. We have tournaments coming up and people coming into town, what will they think when the town smells?”
With so much at stake for the City of Madill as it continues to grow and invite new businesses into the area, one must ask will the smell drive them away?