North Heights residents calling for action on foul-smelling, toxic gas

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Potter County Precinct Four Commissioner and North Heights resident Warren Coble said it’s one of the oldest problems in North Heights.

“For years, I’ve heard about an odor in North Amarillo, in and around the area where the [Ross Rogers] golf course is,” he said.

Coble told MyHighPlains.com that the culprit is hydrogen sulfide, which according to OSHA, is a colorless gas known for its pungent rotten egg odor, and is extremely flammable and highly toxic.

“Hydrogen sulfide, look it up on Google, and it would even tell you that it is a relative to the gas that Hitler used on the Jews. H2S, it has killed some people in the past,” Coble said.

According to OSHA, the health effects of hydrogen sulfide depend on the amount and time of exposure, but many effects are seen even at low concentrations. Effects can range from mild headaches and eye irritation to unconsciousness and, in some cases, death.

Coble says complaints from residents date back to the 1960s.

“One of the first formal complaints was in 1968, with Mr. Parker who was the NAACP President and one of our local businessmen, a gentleman named John Chandler. So, they came out and did a few things and it it didn’t work. At that time, there were some problems on Georgia with the same situation. They got it cleared up pretty quick, but nothing really ever happened here.”

Coble told MyHighPlains.com that he has extensive knowledge of hydrogen sulfide from working at the Phillips 66 plant in Borger for more than 20 years. He claims he smelled the gas in North Heights a few years ago during a bike race in the area, and shortly after, he started working the phones.

“I call City Hall that Monday to set a meeting. Then-Commissioner Vaughn and I met with [now Interim City Manager] Floyd Hartman,” Coble expressed.

City leaders told MyHighPlains.com they regularly monitor the problem, but Coble counters that’s only part of the issue.

“There is no continual monitoring. Whenever the gas come up in these places, they come check them after we call them, and they say, ‘well, there’s a little or nothing.’ Well, the gas has moved on, but wind carries it, and so that’s why we need is continual monitoring because their data is skewed,” he said.

MyHighPlains.com spoke with Interim City Manager Floyd Hartman, who said the City of Amarillo is addressing the problem.

“The city has done a lot to address the issues in the North Heights and continues to address issues in the North Heights,” said Hartman, who will hold the Interim City Manager title until Grayson Path starts the City Manager role in August. “The Northeast Interceptor was constructed, is under contract and being constructed. and the first thing to impact in a positive way on a source system is to quit putting more into where there’s a problem. So that line will allow a relief, if you will, off of that for any new growth and so that will be the first major step.”

Hartman said that the project is slated for completion next summer. But, in the meantime, “as early as last year, we put in a state of the art odor control unit right there south of Thompson Park and that is a device that is just cutting edge in the process. Beyond that, the city has for decades treated hydrogen sulfide issues across the city with a ferrous chloride product that we inject in different parts of the city to minimize that. That binds it up and takes it all the way to the wastewater plant,” Hartman explained.

Hartman told MyHighPlains.com the city continues to monitor H2S levels in the neighborhood and has been in contact with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality about it, and also acknowledges there’s more work to be done.

“There are decades and decades of infrastructure issues related to parts of town, including the North Heights, and we’re addressing those. Any infrastructure project anywhere, it takes a significant amount of time. Takes planning, funding, then design and then construction,” he said.

Coble says this is all a good start, but more needs to be done to protect citizens.

“My problem is, it keeps saying be patient. While I’m being patient with those guys, we have people who are becoming medical patients,” Coble said.

Coble said this is an issue that he and others will continue to bring forth to Amarillo City Council meetings until more is done to rectify the issue.

For the latest Amarillo news and regional updates, check with MyHighPlains.com and tune in to KAMR Local 4 News at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 p.m. and Fox 14 News at 9:00 p.m. CST.