RINCON — Gregory Smithey sent his friend state Rep. Bill Hitchens a Facebook message on the afternoon of Oct. 29 complaining about an overpowering stench outside his home on Savannah’s far outskirts.
Three hours later, Smithey’s wife, Beverly, turned on the kitchen stove to cook dinner. The ignition sparked gas that had been leaking from an old connection to the house, causing an explosion that threw Beverly across the room, knocked the 40-year-old house off its foundation and started a fire that took Gregory Smithey’s life. Trapped in a bathroom at the rear of the home, the 69-year-old died of smoke inhalation.
As Beverly Smithey has grappled with the tragedy, what troubles her most is that she didn’t sense the tell-tale sign of leaking gas — the scent of rotten eggs. She couldn’t smell it, she said, over the odor that has permeated her neighborhood off and on for years despite regular complaints such as the one her husband sent to Hitchens just hours before his death.
The Smitheys and their neighbors along Ebenezer Road have lived with the stench for six years now, ever since the French chemical company DRT began processing pine resin at a 30-employee facility located less than a half-mile away. The plant produces rosin and turpentine oil used in a variety of products, such as adhesives, chewing gum, perfume, plastics and rubber.
Neighbors describe the smell as a mix of turpentine and dead animal. Residents say the odor has worsened since July, dating to a restart of the plant after several months offline.
“If I could have smelled anything over that odor of turpentine, I would have called over to the Fire Department for them to come to check it out,” Beverly Smithey said, pointing toward the Effingham fire station next door to her house. “Obviously, there was a lot of gas built up in the house.”
An Effingham Fire Department investigation determined the explosion was caused by a gas leak and did not link the tragedy to DRT, directly or indirectly.
Residents of Cobbleton, a subdivision located next to the Smitheys’ property, and parents of children who attend nearby elementary and middle schools started a Facebook group under the banner “Stop the toxins in Ebenezer.” The page launched Oct. 30 — the day after the Smithey explosion — and already has more than 500 members.
The public outcry has prompted the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to test the air for toxins three times since Sept. 26. All three samples came back within acceptable limits, and DRT denies the facility produces foul odors.
“DRT has not identified any off-site odors associated with the plant, nor has its monitoring shown any indication of chemicals in the air that could cause odors,” DRT spokesperson Betsey Weltner wrote in an email.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
But complaints about the smell causing nausea, itchy eyes, and lung and throat irritation have persisted, said Hitchens, who lives nearby and is familiar with the pungent scent
“The problem is, there’s no way to measure for smell or how unhealthy an odor is,” said Hitchens, a Republican who has served in the Georgia House since 2013 and was once the state’s public safety commissioner and homeland security director. “It’s a nuisance, but there’s no measurement device. It’s a case of you know it when you smell it.”
Accident prone
The fatal explosion and the Smitheys’ allegations about the smell in the neighborhood have renewed scrutiny of DRT, which has been a source of consternation along Georgia’s coast dating to its 2016 purchase of another chemical plant in Brunswick.
The company built the Rincon facility a year later but faced delays in opening because of an inability to reach an agreement on wastewater. DRT sits next to a municipal treatment plant that handles the facility’s sanitary sewer, but the company trucks its other wastewater elsewhere for disposal.
Soon after the Rincon plant opened, local officials began to receive complaints about an odor. Hitchens, Effingham County Commissioner Phil Kieffer and the environmental group Savannah Riverkeeper have logged long lists of grievances. Nearby residents have filed 58 formal complaints with the Environmental Protection Division, according to a public database.
DRT plants have also been plagued by accidents of late. In December, an explosion rocked the Rincon facility and resulted in a fire that engulfed an oxidizer tank, which was extinguished by the Rincon Fire Department. In April, a massive fire destroyed much of the DRT plant in Brunswick, leading to its permanent closure and the loss of 220 jobs.
Then there was a Sept. 26 spill of 500 gallons of a turpentine solvent at the Rincon plant when a tank gasket failed.
The Coastal Health District, a division of the state Department of Public Health, reported a spike in illnesses among those who live or attend school near the plant following the spill and has asked residents to report symptoms to their health care provider or the Georgia Poison Center.
“All eyes are on the facility, locally and from a state level,” Kieffer said. “We’re going to do everything we can, and we won’t stop until its remedied. What that remedy is, I don’t know.”
Stinkin’ Rincon?
Kieffer lives three-quarters of a mile from DRT and said the pungent odor is so fetid it sticks to his clothing and fouls the air inside his home. He said addressing the smell is a quality-of-life issue, both for the health of his neighbors and their ability to enjoy the outdoors.
Residents along Ebenezer Road say the stench has become so common that locals once again refer to their area as “Stinkin’ Rincon.” The label dates to the 1980s and 1990s and was once used to describe the smell emitted by industrial sludge byproduct at the Savannah River Mill, then owned by the Fort Howard Paper Company.
The mill, now owned by Georgia-Pacific, is still in operation but uses a methane venting system that significantly reduces the smell.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Members of the Smithey family no longer chuckle at references to “Stinkin’ Rincon.” Jeremy Zeigler, who is married to Gregory and Beverly’s daughter Rebecca, is haunted by the day of his father-in-law’s death. He spent part of that day working on the property, leveling a stone driveway with a tractor. He said he stopped the machine several times mistakenly thinking he’d turned up a dead animal with his implement.
“The odor can be so strong it overtakes everything, and then it will get even stronger,” he said. “It reeks.”
Every look at the Smitheys’ ruined house further reminds Zeigler and the family of what happened. From the front yard, the yellow clapboard house appears to bulge at the edges. A slit gapes between from the bottom of two adjoining walls. The front porch awning waffles along its length. The roof sits askew, and the doors no longer fit their frames.
Credit: Smithey family
Credit: Smithey family
Hitchens, the state lawmaker, calls DRT a “bad neighbor” and said he is exploring legislative action but is hesitant to push a bill that could impact other manufacturers that don’t “stink up their neighborhoods.”
“We don’t know exactly what we can do yet,” Hitchens said. “We don’t want to scare off manufacturers, but we do want to address those that are causing problems or health issues.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct information regarding the Savannah River Mill paper plant.
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