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Organization: South Coast Air Quality Management District
Date: May 1, 2009
AQMD Staff to Enhance Odor Identification Capabilities
The South Coast Air Quality Management District has approved a contract
with a UCLA team of olfactory experts for a pilot program expected to
enhance the agency's ability to better identify odor sources and potential
mitigating factors in resolving odor complaints.
The agency's current odor complaint identification and investigation practices
are effective but, in some cases, odors are elusive. The goal is to enhance
the agency's current program.
"Foul odors can severely impact a person's quality of life or even their
health," said William A. Burke, Ed.D., AQMD's Governing Board Chairman. "We
are trying to enhance the tools available to our inspectors to help identify
and resolve odor problems reported by residents."
Mel Suffet, a professor of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) at the UCLA
School of Public Health, will lead the effort. Suffet, an expert on odor
science, has developed an odor identification device that defines air pollution
problems in urban areas.
The AQMD receives thousands of complaints about odor from the public each
year. Odors are the single largest source of complaints reported by residents
of the South Coast Air Basin and comprise almost half of the total air quality
complaints received annually. Of these, the vast majority (approximately 85
%) are linked to an identifiable source.
Facilities frequently reported as suspected sources of odors include waste
transfer and recycling stations, wastewater treatment plants, landfills,
composting operations, petroleum operations, food and byproduct processes,
factories, and agricultural activities, such as livestock operations.
As part of the program, Suffet will review the agency's complaint database,
which includes the number and type of complaints reported, the types of
facilities suspected or confirmed as sources of the odor and other relevant
information. Based on current AQMD practices and procedures, he will provide
recommendations to enhance staff's practices in odor chemistry, odor
parameters and odor identification techniques.
If the one-year pilot proves successful, it could be expanded to include
assisting community members to identify and describe types of odors. With
this knowledge, residents who have odor complaints would be able to give a
better report of an odor incident, therefore allowing AQMD to more effectively
determine the source.
AQMD can issue notices of violations to facilities if it can document that a
facility's odors are causing a nuisance for a considerable number of people
living or working nearby.
In other action today, the AQMD Board:
• Awarded $1.2 million to Johnson Matthey Inc. to cosponsor the
development and demonstration of selective catalytic regenerating
technology on heavy-duty diesel trucks to reduce nitrogen oxide and
particulate emissions. The technology will be demonstrated on approximately
43 trucks, model years 1999 through 2002, from at least four fleets in the
Southland. AQMD received a $900,000 grant award from U.S. EPA's Clean
Diesel Emerging Technologies Program to help fund this project;
• Appointed M. Michael Glovsky, M.D., to fill the medical member position on
the AQMD Hearing Board. Dr. Glovsky will replace Joseph D. Auerbach, M.D.,
who resigned in December 2008 after serving more than 16 years on the
hearing board; and
• Amended Rule 1171 — Solvent Cleaning Operations and Rule 1122 — Solvent
Degreasers to extend the compliance date one year to 2010 for certain
solvents used in the clean-up of screen printing equipment, as well as provide
an exemption for certain specialized, low-usage solvents. Today's action will
provide additional time for testing of new, lower-polluting formulations that
can perform well and satisfy cleaning requirements.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
