FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A local restaurant owner has filed a lawsuit against a water treatment company because of “overwhelming fumes” in the Fort Smith area.
River City Bistro owner Bruce Spinas filed the suit against Russellville-based Denali Water Solutions Friday, claiming it is responsible for the odor and, in turn, has resulted in economic loss after customer complaints.
The lawsuit was filed in Crawford County Circuit Court by lawyers Joey McCutchen, Stephen Napurano and Chip Sexton.
According to the complaint, Denali operates storage lagoons for organic residuals in Crawford County, “which has been a source of noxious odors affecting residents and property owners.” It said in August the fumes permeated Fort Smith and nearby areas “creating an intolerable environment for the community.”
Fort Smith addresses concerns of ‘unpleasant odors’ in area A storage lagoon is described in the complaint as a man-made basin used to temporarily store organic residuals — byproducts from food processing and other industries that are unsuitable for disposal in traditional wastewater systems. The residuals allegedly contained grease, blood, offal and “other such biosolids.”
“The Storage Lagoon creates a manure-like smell that impacts both Sebastian County, Arkansas and Crawford County, Arkansas and makes living outdoors or being outdoors very uncomfortable with poor air quality,” the complaint said. “The odor created from the Storage Lagoon is pungent and has proximately caused harm to Plaintiffs’ business and the business and life of other residents of Crawford and Sebastian County, Arkansas.”
According to the complaint, the plaintiff is seeking injunctive relief requiring Denali to cease all operations at the subject storage lagoon until the lagoon is properly remediated to eliminate the noxious odors and harmful emissions.
A news release from McCutchen says the plaintiff will seek class-action status on behalf of other persons and entities who are similarly situated.
“Denali has been polluting the River Valley’s environment for many years. It’s past time that they are held fully and fairly accountable for their continued reckless actions. Their actions have affected the quality of life for many in our River Valley,” McCutchen said in the release.
Denali Water Solutions has not yet responded to the lawsuit, but released a statement prior to the suit being filed where the company said it was in the process of draining a lagoon.
“In Van Buren, we operate a lagoon where we process the food residuals into valuable agriculture inputs, providing local farmers with nutrient-rich fertilizer to stimulate plant growth,” Denali said in the statement. “As we work on cleaning this lagoon, we recognize that at times, aspects of agriculture can produce odors since the creation of fertilizers from organics involves a process of breaking down materials, which is likely the smell that residents are noticing.”
Northwest Arkansas National Airport formally files petition to detach from Highfill The City of Fort Smith released a statement on Oct. 14 after receiving multiple complaints about the smell in the area.
“After investigation, we learned that the smell is a result of a lagoon cleanup project in the Arkansas River bottoms in Crawford County,” the city said. “This process involves breaking down food residuals into agriculture inputs, providing local farmers with nutrient-rich fertilizer to stimulate plant growth. The anticipated completion of the lagoon cleanup is within the next 10 days.”
The Fort Smith area has had a history of foul smells . In 2019, Mayor George McGill issued a statement to residents as Denali Water was cleaning the bottoms of lagoons in Crawford County.
Click here to read the full complaint.
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