Dear Red Phone, Good morning!
It’s a beautiful crisp and sunny morning today. It’s perfect for a walk on the levee.
Unfortunately, as I walked out the front door I was assaulted by the noxious odor that often saturates the air. I believe the garbage transfer station on Pacheco Pass is just outside the city limits but, the sour garbage smell it generates is destroying the quality of life here in Gilroy. Especially off 10th Street and the area from the Sports Park to Christmas Hill park.
Is there anything we citizens of the city can do to get that garbage site moved out to an area that would get rid of that stench? As we try to encourage folks to patronize our area shops and restaurants we are being undermined by this business that is not even in the city.
I hope you can offer a solution. I would like to eat outside, or sip my coffee at an outdoor table downtown. Unfortunately, smell is a great part of enjoying delicious food and this smell is not making the al fresco experience possible.”
Red Phone: Dear stifled by the stench,
To explore your concern, Red Phone got in touch with Chris Rummel from the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health Solid Waste Program. We hope this provides some insight.
“The odors that occasionally waft into Gilroy may not originate from the source you suspect. The facility on Pacheco Pass does not transfer garbage. It is a refuse truck maintenance and parking lot for the garbage collection fleet servicing Gilroy and Morgan Hill.
The property is within the City of Gilroy. There are other possible sources whose odors may be carried by changing weather patterns. For example, any number of nearby agricultural fields adding soil amendments this time of year, any number of composting or similar facilities, or any other possible sources.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is the primary agency responsible for responding to odor complaints, however the County of Santa Clara’s Department of Environmental Health will respond to odor complaints related to composting facilities or operations.
Chris Rummel can be reached at (408) 918-1964.
