By Matt Fredmonsky
Record-Courier staff writer
Fred Pierre, like so many of his neighbors, has trouble sleeping at night. But he is not kept awake by stress or worry about his job or family life.
Pierres trouble stems from a smell similar to that of burning tires.
Residents in the neighborhood located across the Cuyahoga River from the Procex Ltd. plant at 880 Cherry St. are concerned about smoke and a foul odor being emitted from one of the companys vent stacks so much so that Pierre has filed a complaint with the Akron Regional Air Quality Management District, which is a functioning arm of the Ohio EPA.
The odor fills up the house, Pierre said. Its woken me out of a sound sleep. When Ive gone down to document the smoke Ive come back with a splitting headache.
Sherry Gedeon, of Tallmadge Avenue, said the odor has been a problem for a long time but its source could not be located until recently.
It does get better and worse, Gedeon said. It impacts her, Mainly by not being able to enjoy my house or yard when it stinks.
According to its Web site, www.procexltd.com, the company reclaims metal parts for its customers by removing rubber, urethane, paints, polymers and other metals from the parts. The site states Procex uses a proprietary process to create magnetic fields whereby the bonding agent releases to allow for physical removal of the rubber, etc., from the metal.
Lynn Malcolm, director of the Akron Regional Air Quality Management District, said during the process in which electricity is used to break the bond between the metal and unwanted material a portion of the adhesive is converted into a gas.
It smells at best like burning rubber, Malcolm said.
According to residents, the smell occurs mostly after 10 p.m. most evenings. Most residents dont notice the odor during the day.
Earl Hamlin, one of the owners of the Procex Ltd. plant, did not return calls for comment.
Malcom said his agency requested a test be performed on one of the plants scrubbers, which filters out toxins and debris from the gas as it leaves the plant. The test was performed last week. The results are not expected for a few more weeks.
The plants scrubber filtration system works by using water to reduce the amount of pollutants by absorbing some of the air pollutants. Smoke, brown in color, has been emitted from the stack as a result of the process.
It has with it some odorous materials, Malcolm said. Knowing what is in there is a major difficulty to determine.
Malcolm said to the best of his knowledge the emissions are not a health concern to area residents.
Obviously air pollution itself has health effects, he said. But there are no toxic regulations covering this type of an operation, he said.
John Ferlito, the citys health commissioner, did not return calls by press time.
But Pierre said the health commissioner is charged with enforcing a city ordinance which states no business shall omit a noxious odor.
City ordinance 521.09, under the General Offenses Code, says no person shall use a structure or building for business which emits a noxious or offensive smell which is injurious to the health or comfort of the public, according to the citys Web site.
Pierre said he and most of the other residents would be satisfied if Procex installed a new scrubber and eliminated the smoke and odor. He fears the beaurocratic process of the Akron Air Quality Management District will delay the installation of a new filtration system and the odor will continue to impact residents with respiratory ailments.
Sherry Gedeon said shes just waiting to see.