Bequette: No citation, no health threat for foul odor

NEBRASKA CITY- Nebraska City Mayor Bryan Bequette, a former helicopter pilot who served 26 years with the U.S. Army, took the public’s questions about a foul odor from the Cargill plant for the third straight council meeting and said he will continue his strategy of trying to raise the issue up the corporation’s chain of command.

Bequette: “We have not laid any consequences on Cargill at this point. I have not cited them as a nuisance. I’ve been working with them to make sure they are working towards it and working up through the Cargill chain to get more and more visibility on it from Cargill corporate.”

Following the latest round of public questioning, Bequette said there is not a deadline set for a solution, but he joins citizens’ in saying the a solution now is preferred.

Bequette said he has no science from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy to suggest that there is an immediate health risk.

 

 

Bequette: “Looking at what NDEE has told us it’s not a health threat. It has not risen to  … it’s a mal-odor, but it’s not a health threat. If I thought it was a health threat – then just like I did all during Covid – I would convene the (city’s) Board of Health.”

"... Do we clearly understand what the problem is?

Bequette: “Yes, I believe I do. Not to the level of a chemist, not to the level of our wastewater superintendent or the level of the folks at the utilities, but I believe I know from having toured Cargill two or three times specifically that process and everything that happened during Covid, over the last five years.”

The mayor said cleaning operations to combat the spread of the virus during the pandemic damaged biological agents necessary for the wastewater system to function properly.

He said the city has kept in contact with the local plant manager and more recently has had bi-weekly meetings with Crystal Fussell, director of operations for Cargill’s prepared foods. He expects Cargill Prepared Foods to go to bat for a refurbished plant. He said the refurbished plant would provide a long-term solution to the wastewater system, but could cost in the tens of millions of dollars.

 

Bequette: “It was encouraging when Crystal (Fussell) said Cargill looks at this planting being here for a long time. They like being in Nebraska City. They are sorry this is happening.”

Bequette said Nebraska City Utilities reports that Cargill is working for immediate solutions with chemical applications and for short-term solutions by trying to fix the biological component of the wastewater system. He expects the public to notice improvement in a few weeks because of the chemical treatment, but said replacement of sludge with active odor-eating agents will take longer.

Bequette: “They are putting in new sludge from their Schuyler plant, which has a lot of bacteria in it. They are also seeding bacteria, so they are trying to add these chemicals as well as bring they system back up to what it was pre-Covid. To where the anaerobic lagoon functions properly, building up with biologicals eating the proteins, creating methane gas that they pull off for use in their heaters and their ovens. And then it goes into the aerobic side with no or little odor, not like the odor we have now.”

He said Cargill is consulting with experienced contractors to arrive at the best solutions.