Date: Fri 13-Feb-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

American-Wire-DEP-smell

Full Text:

What's That Smell On Church Hill Road?

BY KAAREN VALENTA

What is that odor?

Do you ever stop at Newtown Hardware or the Drug Center, or perhaps The Ice

Cream Shop, and notice a strange odor, something undefinable in the air?

The odor, Newtown Health Director Mark A.R. Cooper says, comes from a wire

enameling process done at the American Wire Corporation plant just off Church

Hill Road on Wire Road.

Mr Cooper said he has had a lot of inquiries and some complaints over the

years from residents about the odor, which he said occasionally is very

noticeable.

"The odor comes from a process which involves coating wire with plastics," he

said. "Depending upon when it is being done, and which way the wind is

blowing, it can be very noticeable or not apparent at all."

American Wire Corp has a permit from the state Department of Environmental

Protection and the required air quality equipment, he said.

"There have been lots of letters back and forth between the health department

and the state over the years about this," Mr Cooper said. "The DEP calls it a

nuisance odor. They have told me that American Wire has a permit, and site

inspections reveal it is operating within the constraints of the permit."

Mr Cooper said because of repeated complaints from a local resident, he asked

the state several times last year to verify again that the odor is not

potentially harmful.

"I was told there would be a site inspection," he said. "These are always

surprise inspections, so I wouldn't be told in advance. And, generally, I

wouldn't get a report of the results of the inspection unless there was some

action which the health department had to take. In the past I've been told

emphatically that there is no role for the local health department in this

matter."

On Friday, February 6, personnel from the state Department of Environmental

Protection's air quality division made a site inspection at American Wire.

Cindy Redmond, spokesperson for the DEP, said Wednesday that results of the

inspection will be available early next week.

"We always have operated within the DEP regulations," said American Wire

President Bill McCarthy. "We've been doing this [process] 24 hours a day for

50 years. I have some people tell me that it smells like perfume."

While at least one nearby homeowner has complained to the health department

about the odor coming from the plant, employees at both Newtown Hardware and

the Drug Center, businesses adjacent to American Wire, said they are never

really bothered by it, not even when working on the loading dock behind the

stores.

"Sometimes customers ask us about it, when they come into the store, but we

don't really notice it," pharmacist Doug Bates said.