Two South St. Paul residents have filed what they hope will be a class-action lawsuit in federal court against animal renderer Sanimax, seeking damages for years of "noxious odors" they say continue to emanate from the company's processing plant.
The plaintiffs also want Sanimax to "significantly reduce, if not eliminate" odors from the plant wafting into nearby neighborhoods. The odors, they say, are a nuisance and have had a negative impact on their property values.
Jeff Storms, a Minneapolis-based attorney handling the suit, said that the response from residents has been overwhelming and enthusiastic about "the need to have something done as to the strong, disgusting smell that's been emanating from that facility."
The suit comes a year after Sanimax, based in Green Bay, Wis., challenged South St. Paul's odor ordinance as unconstitutionally vague. Sanimax dropped its suit a few months later after city officials agreed to stop calling it a "significant odor generator," which made it liable for penalties.
Storms said residents repeatedly describe the smell from the Sanimax plant as akin to that of rotting flesh.
"They can't stay outside because the smell makes them sick," he said. "They can't open their windows."
According to its website, Sanimax collects animal hides, skins, meat byproducts and discarded oils and grease and turns them into animal feed and biofuels. Company officials did not respond to a request for comment last week.
While some mitigation efforts have been made, the suit alleges that Sanimax "has failed to install and maintain adequate technology to properly control its emissions of noxious odors."