Press Release

Regarding City of Charlotte Odor Investigation Report

August 7, 2009

Wallace Farm must clarify aspects of a recent "odor investigation report" released by the City of Charlotte in a June 19, 2009 Memorandum from the City Attorney to the Mayor and City Council of Charlotte entitled "Wallace Family Compost Facility Update." These documents paint a very inaccurate picture.

There is an unfortunate history of this odor study and report. Citizens will be shocked to learn how this study was conducted by City officials and their consultants. Despite Wallace Farm's offer to cooperate in a study, City officials took costly, unnecessary, and illegal actions.

As a result of the City's conduct, Wallace Farm commissioned a careful study of the odor report by its own consultants. As detailed below, the City's report has no validity and represents a poor use of City funds.

Odor Report History

In early 2008, after communicating with City staff, Wallace Farm responded positively to the City's request for an odor study allowing inspections and sampling of Wallace Farm's compost operations. Wallace Farm asked that relevant stakeholders, and technical experts for the City and Wallace Farm, meet and work together to plan such a study. This method of planning an odor study is standard industry practice because it helps all parties learn what is involved, what can be accomplished with available resources, and builds confidence in the outcome.

Unfortunately, City officials rejected Wallace Farm's proposal and, without warning, invaded the Wallace Farm facility the morning of September 30, 2008. Several Charlotte-Mecklenburg police cars escorted City officials (including code enforcement staff members and two assistant City attorneys), employees of Brown & Caldwell and R. Alexander Associates, Inc. to Wallace Farm. Samples were taken under threat of force, despite Wallace Farm's objections. Troubling aspects of this incident include the fact that no warrant was produced. At the time, Wallace Farm's property was not even within the city limits of the City of Charlotte. Wallace Farm was not given the opportunity to contest the alleged warrant through its attorneys. Furthermore, Wallace Farm was not allowed to communicate with Brown and Caldwell staff or given the opportunity to obtain split samples, so they could have their own testing performed by a certified laboratory.

Odor Study Report

Numerous and serious questions about the validity of the report can be demonstrated. At its best, the study can be shown to be inconclusive, and at its worst the study is amateurish. First, a paucity of samples were taken. Odor studies seeking to definitively establish odor characteristics and sources require significantly more samples taken over a much longer time period than was the case here. Moreover, the study did not follow the protocols and criteria established by the State of North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources for studies of this type.

While the City's contract for the odor study stated a professional engineer, registered in North Carolina, would be managing the project, that individual was not an author of the report. In fact, none of the report's authors are registered professional engineers in North Carolina. No professional engineer's stamp was affixed to the report.

Glaring omissions in this report exist. For example, results reported for one important odor parameter show that all off-site samples analyzed were well below values considered problematic by DENR. Reasons for this result were not addressed in the report.

Many other omissions and problems with the report can be elaborated at a future time, if and when the need arises.

Wallace Farm believes the City wasted approximately $50,000 of tax payer's money. Furthermore, the City lost good will and an opportunity to work with Wallace Farm.

Proactive Measures by Wallace Farm

Despite all that has gone on, Wallace Farm has worked diligently to address neighbors' concerns. As an example, long before the City attorneys and their consultants committed their illegal trespass and unconstitutional conduct Wallace Farm was developing a new method of covering compost windrows. This method was developed at great expense and was worked out in cooperation with the technical aid of the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources. That it was instituted, but not taken into consideration in the consultant's odor study, demonstrates how working with stakeholders might have led to a more valid, useful study.