Bee Spring Farm Behind Smell Complaints Voluntarily Agrees To Stop Spreading Egg Material As Fertilizer

Residents Speak At Fiscal Court, Farmer Speaks In Edmonson Voice Interview

Several Bee Spring residents attended today's Edmonson County Fiscal Court meeting for a discussion about a local farm spreading fertilizer in the area that is causing a foul odor.

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
A discussion was held at today's Edmonson County Fiscal Court meeting about what has become known as the "Bee Spring Stench," a topic that has many Bee Spring residents demanding action. According to Edmonson County Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey in the meeting, the farm that is the source of the complaints has voluntarily agreed to halt the operation that is causing what locals say it a terrible odor.

After the meeting, The Edmonson Voice also spoke to Jonathan Blanton, the owner of the farm in the Oklahoma Road area. Blanton said he was receiving Perdue Farm shipments of egg shells and culled eggs (eggs rejected by Perdue) and spreading them on his farm to be used a fertilizer. He said he never meant any harm to the community in any way, and that he is doing everything he can to solve the issue.

Lindsey also said that his office had received many complaints about the rotten egg odor that had spread in the community, which came from Blanton's farm. Judge Lindsey also said that Blanton had legally obtained a solid waste permit from the state and was under contract with Perdue to receive the discarded egg shipments.

Several members of the Bee Spring community attended today's fiscal court meeting and were allowed to speak in a public discussion; however, Judge Lindsey spoke first about his meeting with Mr. Blanton.

"He came in my office voluntarily after he talked to Representative Michael Meredith. Jonathan made the decision to stop all operations of the facility that he has. He talked to me and told me they have two shipments left that they had to take per contract." Lindsey continued. "One of them was there Friday and delivered, and then Jonathan shut the second one down and changed the locks on the gate. It was supposed to be due there Sunday night or Sunday evening. He called and told me yesterday that Perdue got extremely ill with him because he shut the last truck off, but he said that he didn't care because he was ready for this to be over with. He started cleanup today and he will be taking what's left at the farm, if it cannot be used as fertilizer or disc-ed up in a back field, it is going to be shipped to an Ohio County landfill that's already agreed to accept the solid waste, and from what I understand, that's where Perdue's contract will keep going."

Lindsey said he had also heard rumors that the owner was going to lease the farm to one or more third parties to continue the fertilizing operation but after speaking to the alleged parties, none of that was true.

Judge Lindsey also told the court that he had discovered an ordinance that was passed by Edmonson County Fiscal Court on January 12, 2012 (EC11-22),  that prohibited anyone in Edmonson County from constructing or operating a solid waste management site until approved by the fiscal court. The eggs being used on Blanton's farm for fertilizer  would be considered solid waste, so even though Blanton had obtained a permit through the state for the operation, he is still required to have fiscal court approval for such use, which he did not obtain. As a result, the fiscal court has the right to monitor the cleanup and termination of the operation, which Lindsey said they would do.

Lindsey said violation of the local ordinance was the only thing the fiscal court could do about the current situation, had Blanton not voluntarily agreed to stop composting. The state permit allowed the rest.

Lindsey also stated that Blanton told him the final cleanup should be finished in approximately a week to ten days.

Several residents spoke about the smell and asked questions about the air, water, and soil quality as a result of the waste being used as fertilizer.

Lindsey said representatives from the EPA had visited the farm where air quality and solid waste testing showed no violations, except for one, where cardboard was being used in a place it shouldn't have been. The results of the water and soil samples have not yet been received, according to Lindsey.

Another resident asked about the farm using manure and Lindsey responded by saying that manure wasn't considered a solid waste for these purposes, because if so, most every farmer in the county would be in violation. Another asked about possible penalties that could be issued to those in violation. County Attorney Adam Turner said there was a penalty clause in the ordinance, along with required public hearings and other stipulations. He also said that a penalty of $1000 per day could be in place for those violating the ordinance. Turner was asked by a resident if Blanton would be assessed these penalties, to which Turner responded no, not at this time, because the operation was being stopped.

The stench Facebook Page claimed there was a drive-by shooting in the area yesterday with more than one post claiming a home had been struck. An attorney representing a Bee Spring resident spoke at today's meeting and said the gunshots were possibly related to those complaining about the odor. We asked Edmonson County Sheriff James Vincent if his office received any complaints on the gunshots. He said yes and an investigation was ongoing; however, he also said the gunshots did not strike any home or property. He added that video surveillance from the area has been reviewed and they are attempting to locate the suspect.

Edmonson County Attorney Adam Turner answers a question at today's Edmonson County Fiscal Court Meeting.

Mr. Blanton told the Edmonson Voice that when he first began spreading the eggs and shells onto his ground, the hot and dry weather began to amplify the odor and he certainly noticed.

"I didn't set out to do it this way," Blanton said. "It turned off hot and the smell got worse, and I apologize for that. I'm trying to fix it. I've done everything within my power to fix it except make it rain, and I can't make it rain."

He said he reached out to some in the area and asked them if it was bad.

"I don't have Facebook, and I sure don't get into the drama on Facebook, but I just asked some people that I could trust and nobody ever said it was that bad. Then it got to be a problem. The EPA didn't tell me I have to quit, but I've voluntarily done this. I really am sorry. I don't know how to get any more sorry. I'm doing everything in my power to stop it."

A Facebook Page called "Bee Spring Stench," that is basically a forum for residents, was started on August 21st. We sent a message to the page to ask if anyone could speak to us about the issue, to which we received the following response:

"I will let you know that the majority of information pertaining to the incident will be found on the page. The people of bee spring built the page with the information provided by actual witnesses of the situation but I am more than happy to help you all create what you need for your own purposes of informing the community. We appreciate the help that was given today."

We then asked if we could speak to someone directly and asked for the page administrator to identify themselves but our question has not yet received a response.

Blanton said no one ever contacted him directly about the situation.

"There was never anyone that called me or contacted me in any way about the smell or I would have done something sooner," he said. He also said he was not aware of the county ordinance that was discussed today but that he is willing to work with the county however possible.

Another resident asked at today's meeting if there could be a follow up at the next fiscal court meeting. Judge Lindsey and magistrates agreed that a follow up would be discussed on the next meeting agenda.

Blanton said he was actually doing clean up at the time of our phone call and that if all went as planned, he hoped to have everything taken care of in a period of 10-14 days, excluding any breakdowns or bad weather.