If you’ve been in certain parts of Hollister over the past few days, it has been hard to avoid a certain stench.
That smell is coming from the city’s industrial sewer pond and has been caused by low pH levels at the San Benito Foods tomato cannery, with the summer canning season starting last week, confirmed Jim Hart, a utility official with the city’s public works department.
The cannery is the exclusive user of the industrial wastewater pond at the end of South Street in Hollister. One of its obligations in an agreement with the city is to maintain pH levels above an 8.0 standard. Lower pH levels amount to higher acidity, which is causing the smell on the west side and the downtown area as well.
“It’s not one of those things you can avoid or ignore,” Hart said. “It’s pretty much common knowledge to anybody with a nose. It’s frustrating.”
The cannery generally keeps pH levels of its effluent in line with the standard, but has previously had some issues with the acidity problem and resultant odor. Most recently in 2010, the city had to work with the cannery on its pH levels due to similar odor problems.
This time around, the city has fielded many calls from concerned citizens, Hart said. One of those residents complaining about the smell is Greg Reed. He lives on the west side of Hollister and said most of the time, there is no smell coming from the sewer pond along the gateway into the city.
When he got off work early Tuesday morning, though, it was noticeable.
“It was really bad,” Reed said.
Reed commented about the ongoing housing development activity on the west side and efforts to spruce up the area.
“Who’s going to want to buy out here if it smells like that?” he said.
Hart said the city does have the capacity to issue fines against the cannery for not abiding by the pH standard, but has not done so. He attributed the smell to personnel changes at the industrial pond, with a private contractor running the industrial and commercial wastewater operations for the first time this year, along with changes at the cannery.
He said the city would continue working with the contractor and cannery to aerate the pond and get the pH levels up.
“In this case, it’s pretty much a situation – once it started, it’s difficult to get it back under control for a few days,” Hart said.
Cannery plant officials could not be reached immediately.
