Posted on 04/19/2005 10:35:46 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Suffolk neighbor says peanut dump raises a stink
A neighbor once enticed the Warrior to line his flower beds with a different kind of mulch – peanut hulls. I could get all I wanted at a local peanut factory, he said. "Free," he added, which is among my favorite words.
Six pickup truckloads later, I discovered what Alease Parker has learned about peanut waste: It stinks. It smells something like an ashtray, far worse when it gets wet.
Parker wrote the Warrior on April 7 about piles of peanut waste being dumped by Birdsong Peanuts behind its plant, at the corner of Mulberry and Jefferson streets in Suffolk.
"Not only has this become a breeding place for all sorts of critters, but it is truly an eyesore," wrote Parker, who lives a block from the vacant lot. Peanut dust is "on everything," she said, and many birds have been attracted to the site, leaving droppings all around.
Then there's the smell, in evidence when I visited with her at the site on Tuesday. "This is good compared to a warm day," she said.
Charles Birdsong, a manager with Birdsong Peanuts, said the waste isn't peanut hulls, but rather dirt screened during peanut processing. He conceded that small peanut nuggets make it into the mix. Birdsong said his company acquired the swampy lot a couple of months ago, with the intention of improving it.
The peanut factory dumped the peanut byproduct on the lot to fill in its lower, wet region, following it with topsoil. But the peanut factory's intentions were foiled by rainy weather, he said.
"We've noticed the smell, too, and we're embarrassed by it," Birdsong said. "I hate that it's bothering people."
The Warrior forwarded Parker's letter to Suffolk's Neighborhood Development Services director, David Freeman. Freeman asked the Department of Environmental Quality, a state agency, to investigate.
The DEQ, in turn, says the matter will probably end up back with Suffolk administrators. "We do the big guys," said Sean Priest, a DEQ inspector. "More than likely, we'll be referring this back to the city of Suffolk." Nonetheless, Priest said he plans on checking out the site early this week.
Whether the state steps in, Priest said, depends on how much of the piles is dirt, and how much is peanut. If it's dirt, Priest said: "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt."
Birdsong may well fill the area with topsoil before it becomes more of an issue. I'll check back in a couple of weeks.
© 2005 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com
smoothsailing wrote:
What's a dumb Goober to do?
--> Ya better call Sheriff Roscoe.
Peanut waste that stinks...hmm..sounds like something from the Carter administration.
The man's a philospher, so what if he also has stinky peanut hulls...
They better watch out, filling in wetlands. The Feds have laws about that, although they define wetlands by vegetation, not moisture.
I wonder if this gentleman has a protruding forehead? I'm sure he's the kind of guy that wears a belt with shorts, has several homemade tattoos on his hands, wears mirrored sunglasses, etc.
Handy tip...you're supposed to pick them out of the poo first.
Is this the author's alter ego? Very strange...
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