CITIZENS EXPRESS DISPLEASURE

The five-member Turner County Board of Adjustment, chaired by Steve Schmeichel, heard firsthand last week how the odor from Dakota Protein Solutions (DPS) is impacting the lives of Freeman area residents — and the community itself.

Ten of the more than 40 concerned men and women who packed into the small meeting quarters at Miller’s Garage on the south end of Parker spoke out during the board’s Aug. 19 meeting, in which the board reviewed the conditional use permit granted to DPS almost four years ago and learned about compliance violations tied to that permit.

Eight of those speaking were citizen of Freeman; the other two were rural residents.

“I know there are a lot of people here and probably a lot of emotion, so I ask for respect for everybody here,” Schmeichel said. “We will keep this thing moving and limit you to two minutes; not that we’re trying to cut you off, but with this many people here, we need to keep this rolling.

“The board will not be in a debate with you,” he continued. “But this is your opportunity to comment.”

And with that, it began.

Freeman city resident Slade Ammann was first to speak and said he’s accustomed to the smell associated with agriculture. His family on both sides had dairy, cattle and hog operations and he grew up four blocks from John Morrell in Sioux Falls.

“It smelled funky — still does,” he said. “I’d still play with my friends outside, ride bikes, play basketball, baseball, never had a problem with it. It was just an inconvenience.”

But the current situation in Freeman is different and impacts his family, be it his children who want to go for runs in the morning or his want to grill out back on the patio.

“When you want to throw up and lose your appetite, you don’t really want to cook outside,” he said. “We didn’t ask for this; we can’t let it stand.”

Ryan Sorensen, another Freeman city resident and a coach with the local football team, said there were a number of times last fall when “the boys couldn’t even really function because it was so thick. Me just standing there coaching, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is horrible.’ And then them running and having to breath heavier — it was a useless practice.”

And just the Friday before the meeting, he said, his kids wanted to go outside for a cookout and to play some bean bags, but as soon as they opened the garage door — “Nope. Closed it back up, went back inside.

“It’s affecting our outside time,” Sorensen said.

Maurice Waltner, who lives three miles south of Freeman, spoke on behalf of the rural community and said the DPS odor is impacting country folks, too.

“We’re in the valley,” he said, “and when it’s the right humidity, the right wind, it just sits there. So not only does it affect the Freeman community, it affects the residents around the area, too.”

Tiffany Mehlhaff spoke next and presented the board of review with a petition that gained 325 signatures in less than four days, as well as a stack of papers that she said resulted from a 10-minute Google search about lawsuits pertaining to these types of plants “and the willful disregard for the public around them.”

Mehlhaff, who lives on Wynken Drive located on the eastern side of the community — “the first line of defense against the smell” — said the people of Freeman have been very patient after previously presenting their concerns and didn’t start getting “pissed” until this past spring.

“They’ve got 800 excuses,” she said. “It’s hot. The water’s bad. All things that somebody starting a rendering plant with this much experience would have known. They didn’t put an air conditioner in, so they said they had to leave the doors open. They acknowledge that the air scrubbers don’t work if the doors are open; the doors are still open. They didn’t put showers in, so the employees leave smelling like that. The plant doesn’t even function like the way they told the residents it would.”

And Mehlhaff noted that the concern goes beyond the smell.

“This is the air quality in your lungs,” she said. “If you can smell it, it’s doing harm to your body.”

Like Mehlhaff, Larry Timmerman lives on Wynken Drive and said his family moved from the country to town 10 years ago to get away from the smell of a feed lot, “and I think I want to move back to my old house, by a feedlot. It’s not even close to what we’re experiencing in town.

“The people in Freeman are suffering,” he continued. “They’re held hostage by a toxic odor — an odor you can’t describe. You have to experience this odor to understand. On a scale of one to 10, it’s vomit stage.”

And Timmerman noted DPS shut down its operation for both the South Dakota Chislic Festival and for the Freeman Volunteer Fire Department’s rib cook-off this past summer.

“But what about every day?” he said. “They know there’s a problem out there or they would not have shut the thing down.”

“Face it, this plant needs to go,” said Timmerman, an outspoken critic of the plant on Facebook. “It’s a total failure. Please cut the losses and run before the whole area is ruined.”

Freeman resident Blaine Saarie, who is president of the Freeman City Council, didn’t go that far, but he said the odor is of serious concern.

“I know Dakota Protein Solutions is a business and they want to keep running,” he said. “And I know they’re trying, but the city council is getting a lot of heat because we let them use our water; that is part of the reason things aren’t working.

“I know the business doesn’t want to do this to Freeman,” Saarie continued. “So I feel whole heartedly that they’re going to solve it, or they’re going to try hard. So if you guys could please help us out to make sure that the problem does get solved; it all comes down to you. Sometimes it gets a little personal and it shouldn’t. We’re all here to help and we’re going to get through this.”

Amy Cummings said she moved to Freeman because she wanted a safe, friendly and peaceful environment to raise her family “and I am grateful to be part of this community.”

But she said the blessing that Freeman was has been compromised because of DPS and she’s concerned for hers and other children of the community.

“I worry about the moments that should be most carefree for them, such as playing outside, recess, practicing sports and gathering outdoors for home games,” she said. “These are core parts of childhood, and they are now at risk of being overshadowed by something no child should have to think about — the smell of a rendering plant.”

Like Timmerman, she noted the plants’ shutdown during Freeman’s two major outdoor summer events.

“I’m concerned about the health of our children, the quality of our schools and the well-being of our families,” she said. “We matter every single day, not just on selective weekends,” Cummings said.

“I’m not here to say the plant cannot exist,” she continued. “What I’m asking is that it must exist responsibly. With the right modifications it can continue operating without harming the quality of life that drew us to Freeman in the first place.

“This is not just about inconvenience. It’s about protecting the peace, health and future of our community. I urge the council to take this matter seriously because it requires meaningful changes so that families like mine can continue to thrive in Freeman.”

Kristi Stahl, another Wynken Drive resident, shared concerns about what might be coming.

“The smell is bad already; what’s going to happen when the irrigation starts?” she said.

Stahl said she has been documenting the plants operation and has seen open doors, trucks not washed, not tarped and sitting outside with a load of dead animals.

“They promised to put a grove of trees around it; nothing has happened regarding that,” she said. “I just feel that a lot of things are being said that aren’t being followed through.”

Scott Hanshaw, who lives two miles south of Freeman on Highway 81, said he moved to Freeman with his family four years ago to escape the poor air quality and contamination of Denver, Colo., and is now forced to deal with the smell of a rendering plant.

“We feel like we’re prisoners in our own home,” he said. “My wife likes to put clothes out on the line to dry; can’t do that anymore. Can’t have the windows open in the house anymore. We have to answer to our son wondering why it smells like a** outside.

“I wish there was some way I could bring that smell into this room to show you what we’re having to deal with, but I can’t,” Hanshaw continued. “All we’re asking as a community is that you look at this matter and help us get it resolved.”

Micah Graber, a Freeman city resident, said he is concerned about the health of the people, but also the health of the town.

“It’s my hometown and I love it,” he said. “Who’s going to buy a house? Who’s going to move a new business in?”

Graber noted that there have been talks about Freeman Regional Health Services teaming up with Avera to build a new health care campus on the eastern portion of Freeman.

“They’re not going to build it there with that smell,” he said. “They promised that it wouldn’t stink, and it’s pretty much every day.”