It is back. Residents of Fayette and Fulton counties are again reporting a chemical odor in the vicinity of the Philip Services Corp. (PSC) waste treatment plant on Spence Road near Fairburn.

It is not the now-familiar onion-like smell of chemical odorant propyl mercaptan or organophosphate pesticide MOCAP that saturated a 40-square-mile area during mid-summer and early fall. This time the odor is more chemical, though some of the symptoms being reported are the same as found with the onion-like smell of mercaptan.

“I feel like we’re back in June again. People are sick again,” said South Fulton/Fayette Community Task Force Chairman Connie Biemiller. “I sent out an e-mail Nov. 9 after a task force member reported a chemical smell in the area of the plant. So far we’ve heard from people from south Fulton all the way south past Peachtree City who are reporting the smell and renewed symptoms. And some of the reports are from people who had not reported symptoms before.”

One of those reporting the new chemical smell was Lee’s Lake Road resident Grady Brewer, whose entry to Fayette County came as he closed on his home June 29, the day of a massive release of chemicals at PSC. The nausea, skin rashes and stomach cramps that took the form of an unwanted Welcome Wagon became less pronounced as the months passed. But the skin rash and nausea reappeared last weekend with the arrival of the new chemical smell.

South Fulton resident George Nicholson and his wife Kim also reported the enhanced reoccurrence of symptoms of nausea, cramping and breathing difficulties since last week’s chemical odor invaded their Spence Road home.

Even as recently as the Monday night, residents along Spence Road and the subdivisions along Milam Road reported an even newer smell. This one was a heavy odor like rotting garbage with a slightly sweet smell as it dissipated in neighborhoods.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) responded to the call and could detect no odor after traveling the neighborhoods around 11 p.m. But Fairburn Fire Department did detect and document the strong odor when called to investigate shortly after 9 p.m.

Those on the scene Monday night reported the sometimes rapid shifting of the odor as breezes blew, much like the way the onion-like chemical smell would unexpectedly dissipate then reappear as winds shifted.

EPD Assistant Director Jim Ussery said Monday he spoke earlier that day with EPD Solid Waste Manager Jeff Cown about the reports and sent two staff to the area Monday morning to investigate the chemical odor. He said PSC is currently in compliance with its Solid Waste Handling permit.

“We are not finding them out of compliance,” Ussery said. “They have a permit and they are in compliance. If we do find them out of compliance we will come down hard on them.”

Ussery said he is convinced the health effects reported by residents are real. He encouraged residents to speak with their physicians and with state Division of Public Health to determine if a link can be established between adverse health reports and chemical exposure.

“If they can establish a link I’ll be glad to use it,” Ussery said. “It would give us something to work with.”

Speaking for Georgia Division of Public Health (DPH), Communications Director Michele Hennessey said DPH is in process of conducting a comprehensive health consultation of the issues that evolved over the past few months with reports of illnesses by hundreds of area residents. While preliminary data cannot be discussed, Hennessey said residents’ continued complaints will be included in the health consultation.

Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services Public Information Officer Capt. Pete Nelms said Tuesday the agency continues to closely monitor the PSC incident.

“In an effort to bring closure to this incident we are forwarding any pertinent information and concerns to Georgia EPD and DPH,” Nelms said.

For residents, questions linger over what a recent DPH epidemiological study did not address. Residents want to know why the same onion smell of propyl mercaptan and MOCAP with the same accompanying symptoms were not accounted for by DPH prior to the June 29 release at PSC since many residents reported illnesses at least one month earlier.

Also not accounted for by DPH were the effects experienced by wildlife in the 40-square-mile hot zone. Residents reported some unaccounted for illnesses and deaths of some domestic animals, the mysterious absence of butterflies, birds and insects and the death of many area bees.

And for many residents, the return of obvious odors in the same vicinity as the PSC plant is bringing more than discomfort, more than symptoms of illness. It is bringing fear, for their families and for their future.

“Something is happening and it’s more acute now, like it was in June,” Biemiller said. “Something is happening in our neighborhoods again. And we’re tired of being victimized.”