Des Moines to expand scientific odor monitoring
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Des Moines is extending its scientific stink detection program to other city areas.
Why it matters: The data will expand the city's ability to prove where offensive odors originate and give officials more data to enforce actions against violators who fail to fix problems.
Flashback: Regular complaints about DSM's "putrid rotting smell" have been ongoing for decades and attributed mainly to animal processing plants.
- Municipal officials acknowledged in recent years that a complaint-based program was ineffective, partly because of difficulty in proving the source of odors.
- DSM City Council agreed to study scientific solutions in 2021, leading to a $2 million eNose system installed last year.
State of play: Partly in response to city workers meeting with companies associated with the smells, multiple businesses invested in additional odor reduction equipment recently, leading to fewer complaints, city officials said in May.
- The city has suspended taking action against odor violators until it has a full year of data.
Driving the news: The initial stink detectors were centered near processing plants, around the intersection of Southeast 18th and Maury Streets.
- Last night, the City Council approved a $200,000 expansion for more equipment in other locations focusing on areas with a high prevalence of odor complaints.
Zoom in: Half of the 10 new odor monitors will be near the city's wastewater treatment plant.
- Dalton Jacobus, neighborhood inspections administrator, tells Axios that if the new monitors show odor problems, the DSM Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation Authority will be asked to find and implement solutions.
What's next: The City Council will meet before year-end to review the first year's data and consider enacting an ordinance to resume enforcement actions, Jacobus said.