Waste company blamed for foul odor in Crawford Co. agrees to shut down
Waste service company agrees to shut down Crawford County site next year
Updated: 10:08 AM CDT May 16, 2025
PEOPLE IN CRAWFORD COUNTY GOT THEIR CHANCE TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST A LOCAL WASTE SERVICE COMPANY TONIGHT. MANY SAY IT’S CAUSING A FOUL SMELL IN THE AREA. 40/29’S KATANI GOUCH WAS AT THE PUBLIC HEARING TONIGHT WHERE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY SPOKE OUT AGAINST THE COMPANY’S PERMIT RENEWAL. RESIDENTS TONIGHT SAY THIS FOUL SMELL HAS COME AND WENT FOR SEVERAL YEARS– AND THEY SAY IT’S BECAUSE OF THE WASTE CLEAN UP WORK OF DENALI WATER SOLUTIONS. NOW THE COMPANY IS SEEKING TO RENEW THEIR PERMIT TO CONTINUE WORK IN THE AREA–BUT RESIDENTS SAY DUE TO THE IMPACT THE STENCH HAS ON THE COMMUNITY—THEY SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED TO. “If you’ve ever had a bloated cow or some kind of animal that was bloated and you popped it, that’s the smell right there. It’s decaying animal smell” ACCORDING TO RESIDENTS–THIS SAME FOUL SMELL CAME AROUND IN 2019 WHEN DENALI WATER SOLUTIONS FIRST BEGAN WORK CLEANING OUT AN AGRICULTURAL BYPRODUCT LAGOON IN CRAWFORD COUNTY. “My first day in office in 2019. Phones were ranting about the smell. It was over our city.” A SMELL THEY SAY DOESN’T JUST IMPACT YOU WHEN YOU WALK OUTSIDE— “I’m not sure of all of the signs. I just know what I smell, and I know how it was affecting people and how it was making people sick.” BUT ALSO IN SOME PEOPLE’S DAILY ROUTINE– “most people can go inside and get away from it. I have a 29ft vent hood in my kitchen that pulls, makeup air from the outside and then dumps the smell on top of my my kitchen staff’s head for hours” EACH PERSON WITH COMMENT GOT THREE MINUTES TO ADDRESS THE PUBLIC–MANY ASKING THE SAME QUESTIONS “Why western Arkansas? We are as good as the rest of the state.” “Who are these people? Why do they get to do this?” “We just don’t understand why Crawford County has become their primary dumping ground” SEVERAL LOCAL AND STATE LEADERS ALSO SPOKE OUT AGAINST THE PERMIT RENEWAL “all the activities we have on our riverfront tourist attractions…that becomes null and void when people cannot stay for the event.” “Fort Smith should not bear the burden of another jurisdiction’s waste operations. Our residents deserve clean air, safe neighborhoods and a government that puts their health and well-being first.” AND WHEN SEVERAL PEOPLE PROMPTED MEMBERS FROM DENALI TO COME TO THE PODIUM— “Not one of the people back in the back of the room from Denali have come up here and empathize” I DID SPEAK WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR SHORTLY AFTER THE HEARING— “we’re members of this community as well. I know some folks, may not be aware we live here, too. And work here, and it’s important for us to hear from the community firsthand.” <butted to> “And we we’re going to do everything we can to, to remedy the situation, but also maintaining operation that’s very, very important to the food manufacturing facilities here and also to farmers.” AN ADEQ SPOKESPERSON SAID AFTER PUBLIC COMMENT PERIODS ARE OVER IT TYPICALLY TAKES THEM AROUND SIX WEEKS TO COME WITH A DECISION ON WHETH
Waste service company agrees to shut down Crawford County site next year
Updated: 10:08 AM CDT May 16, 2025
VIDEO ABOVE: People in Crawford County express concern over odor from waste service company (May 15)The company blamed for a foul odor that has wafted across Crawford County for years announced Friday it will shut down its open-air storage there.Denali Water Solutions, an organics recycling company, announced it is working to get the permits needed to close its location.People who live in Crawford County complained about the smell at a meeting on Thursday. “If you’ve ever had a bloated cow or some kind of animal that was bloated and you popped it, that’s the smell right there. It’s decaying animal smell,” Brian Boster said.According to residents, this same foul smell came around in 2019 when Denali first began work cleaning out an agricultural byproduct lagoon in Crawford County.
VIDEO ABOVE: People in Crawford County express concern over odor from waste service company (May 15)
The company blamed for a foul odor that has wafted across Crawford County for years announced Friday it will shut down its open-air storage there.
Denali Water Solutions, an organics recycling company, announced it is working to get the permits needed to close its location.
People who live in Crawford County complained about the smell at a meeting on Thursday.
“If you’ve ever had a bloated cow or some kind of animal that was bloated and you popped it, that’s the smell right there. It’s decaying animal smell,” Brian Boster said.
According to residents, this same foul smell came around in 2019 when Denali first began work cleaning out an agricultural byproduct lagoon in Crawford County.