The smell just won’t go away. Several residents in south Fulton and north Fayette counties have become ill and many more disturbed by the strong onion-like odor coming from the Philips Services (PSC) treatment plant on Ga. Highway 92. The odor of pesticide ingredient Propyl mercaptan has permeated parts of those counties during the past three weeks, triggering increasing complaints June 29 when its most recent shipments showed up at the facility. Though the shipment was refused and returned to its Alabama source, its brief exposure to the air is wreaking olfactory havoc with increasing numbers of neighbors and those living within a 50 square mile area of the plant.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) Emergency Response Team Program Manager Gary Andrews said Wednesday that representatives of his agency and federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted tests at the site Monday after receiving complaints about the odor. Those tests revealed no measurable presence of Propyl mercaptan even though some investigators on the site could smell the chemical.

A host of emergency response officials from Fulton and Fayette counties,EPD and EPA visited and re-visited the PSC facility during the past week. Air samples were taken during some of the visits to test for the chemical that many people from Fairburn and Union City and from north Fayette and Tyrone to Peachtree City can smell with no difficulty, an area easily 50 square miles in size.

Fulton County Emergency Management Agency Duty Officer William Andrews said that PSC received shipments of wash water containing a small fraction of Propyl mercaptan beginning June 21. Wash water is produced after the container holding the chemical is empty and the container is washed with water. Containers of wash water were then shipped to PSC for treatment. From June 21 through June 29 the plant received 20 shipments from a Bayer manufacturing plant in Alabama, Andrews said. The first 16 shipments were accepted and treated at the PSC facility. The final four shipments, all arriving June 29, were determined by plant operators to be unacceptable. The first container arriving June 29 had been transferred to a PSC tank when the determination was made. The Propyl mercaptan was put back on the truck for return shipment to Alabama. When the other three shipments arrived later in the day, the dome lids were opened and samples taken. All three of those tanks were refused and returned to Bayer. The only known way the chemical could have entered the environment was during those brief occasions where the transfer of one tank was made and the lid on three others was lifted during sampling, Smith and Andrews said.

Contacted Thursday, PSC General Manager David Chunn said the company has no comment at this time, adding that a statement will be submitted in writing at a future date.

Smith said Thursday an investigation revealed that nothing was released into the environment and that no violation had occurred. He said EPA took 18 air samples around the plant property and within a three mile radius of it. Instrumentation was set for a health-effect level, Smith said. None of those samples came in at the level. The same was true for samples taken by EPD. The health-effect threshold of Propyl mercaptan is one-half part per million. In contrast, the average person can detect the strong smell of the chemical at 600 parts per trillion. That vast difference appears to explain why so many people have smelled the disgusting odor, but relatively few of the tens of thousands in the affected area of South Fulton and north, central and west Fayette have experienced some degree of illness.

But there are those who have become sickened from the smell. Though reliable numbers are difficult to determine, it is known that some individuals and families have experienced various symptoms. Tyrone resident Sheryl Meyers has worn a mask at work at her job near the plant in South Fulton. Meyers has experienced nausea and vomiting and reported that the smell had been present for two to three weeks, the time frame that coincides with the first shipments of Propyl mercaptan to arrive at PSC in the third week of June. Just south of the plant location in northern Fayette, Connie Biemiller and her family have experienced intermittent but increased allergy symptoms during the same period. Other residents in South Fulton and Fayette have reported nausea, headaches and vomiting and Fairburn EMS transported one person to an area hospital with symptoms apparently related to having inhaled Propyl mercaptan. Piedmont Fayette Hospital saw approximately one-half dozen people with complaints of nausea or respiratory complaints. None were admitted.

Smith and Andrews said the odor should dissipate with time, though it is unknown when that time might be. And though extremely unpleasant and sickening to some, the chemical make-up of Propyl mercaptan is partly responsible for the lingering odor. Being heavier than air and not easily broken by sunlight, the chemical tends to hover at ground level, especially in low-lying, shaded areas and creek beds, areas that are usually cooler and damper than open, sunlit areas, Andrews said. Another factor contributing to its prolonged presence are the hot and humid days the area has seen in the recent past, said Smith. The onion-like odor has been detected by residents in portions of Fairburn, the Union City area, unincorporated southeast Fulton, north Fayette, the Tyrone area, throughout much of the central Fayette area and down to Peachtree City. The reason for such a large coverage area in Fayette is that the prevailing winds during the past several days has been predominantly from the north, said Fayette County EMA Coordinator Pete Nelms. PSC is located at on the extreme south side of Fulton on Hwy. 92, approximately one mile from the Fayette line. Given all those factors, it is still unexplained why such an apparently small amount of Propyl mercaptan vapor could linger for so obviously over a growing area currently estimated at 50 square miles.

The foul smelling Propyl mercaptan is chemically similar to Tertiary Butyl mercaptan (TBM), used as a odorant in natural gas. Information on Propyl mercaptan provided in the Materials Safety Data Sheet states that the strong, objectionable odor may cause nausea, dizziness or headache but is not expected to be harmful if inhaled in small quantities. Propyl mercaptan is a moderately toxic, colorless liquid with a strong, offensive odor that floats on water, according to CAMEO (Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations). It is a chemical intermediate and herbicide and was used as a component of the pesticide MOCAP, produced at Bayer’s Alabama facility.

Smith recommended that residents detecting onion-like smell of Propyl mercaptan take the following precautions:

• Open your windows during the day and allow the air to circulate through the house.

• Remove your air filter and leave it out. If you have dirt and dust on the filter, the odor may have saturated on the filter. Replace the filter when the odor subsides.

• Leave the A/C on and turn on fans to help move the air in the house.

• At night, close the windows and doors and avoid being outside.

• If there is a thunderstorm, open your windows to allow the fresh air from the storm to help circulate the air in your house. Please take appropriate precautions to avoid any dangerous lightning and also getting water in your house.

• If you feel like you need medical attention, you must see your doctor or whomever you would normally see for any ailment.

In a related incident Thursday morning, nearby PSC neighbor George Nicholson came close to being arrested after attempting to take photographs at the facility. Nicholson said he and many of his neighbors had been smelling the very strong odor from the plant for three weeks and some of those neighbors had become ill. Living approximately one-half mile from the facility, Nicholson and others wanted answers that had not been forthcoming. Nicholson said he had driven onto the plant property to take photos, then drove across Hwy. 92 and parked in the driveway of a vacant house. From there, he established an observation point. Nicholson said a short time later a vehicle pulled up along the highway in front of his car. A man who did not identify himself got out and made several demands, Nicholson said.

“He demanded to know who I was and what I wanted,” Nicholson said. “He demanded that he get any pictures and he reached inside my vehicle to try to get the camera, but I moved it away from him. Then he said he would call the police.”

Fulton County Police responded at the scene, temporarily taking Nicholson’s driver’s license and informing him that he might be arrested. The property was not posted for trespassing. The incident ended when two men from the plant came over to Nicholson, informing him that he would be trespassing if he entered PSC property again. Nicholson said he acknowledged their remarks. Nicholson and the police left the scene.

There was no response by PSC relating to the incident. PSC had already declined any comment.

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