Lakeside Foods’ odor issues continue

The odor from a canning plant’s detention pond in Belgium that drew several complaints from neighbors during summer has returned, causing Lakeside Foods General Manager Paul Kuzio to again explain to the Village Board how the company is addressing the problem.

The village initially received complaints in June and then again in late August and early September, one from a couple that mentioned the impact on their family.

“The odors are so strong that it forces us to close our windows and doors, and in some cases permeates the closed house causing nausea and asthmatic symptoms,” Scott Mellesmoen wrote in an email  to the village on Sept. 14.

Kuzio at Monday’s meeting said the situation was a “perfect storm” since he was hired April 20. The operations manager of the plant was on a cruise that ended up lasting five weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the maintenance supervisor’s wife had passed away. Many of the aerators weren’t working when Kuzio arrived.

“Now we have all 10 operating,” he said.

The most recent stench was caused by an earlier-than-expected run of beets — a rarity for the Belgium facility, Kuzio said — which carry a high demand for wastewater treatment. That, along with hot weather, caused the water level to run lower than normal and took away some of the oxygen, which slows the breakdown of waste.

The company had been taking its sludge to Port Washington but it stopped accepting sludge. Lakeside contacted an outside service and this week started the process of getting rid of its 6,000 gallons of sludge.

This is the second meeting in four months that Kuzio explained to the Village Board what Lakeside Foods is doing to curtail the smell.

Emails to the village during summer described the smell as “putrid, horrendous, relentless” and “disgusting.”

“I apologize for this odor. I know it hasn’t been pleasant,” Kuzio said. “I’ve had sleepless nights too.”

Kuzio said the company has not utilized the tools it has to handle the issue in the past, perhaps due to a lack of money or willingness to spend money.

“Believe me, we’re making it happen,” he said.

Mellesmoen attended the meeting and tried to describe the smell.

“Actually, cow manure smells better than this, and I live right next to Buechler Farms,” he said.

He thanked Kuzio for his work in trying to reduce the odor.

“I appreciate all your efforts and I’m looking forward to a cleaner more smell-free zone around the city,” he said.