DAKOTA PROTEIN SOLUTIONS DEALING WITH UNWANTED ODOR

Dakota Protein Solutions dealing with unwanted odor

Rendering facility bringing in outside help to fix the problem

JEREMY WALTNER 

– EDITOR & PUBLISHER

“It’s not acceptable to us, it’s not how it was meant to be and it’s not how it’s going to be.”

That no-nonsense statement from Dan Heiman, general manager at Dakota Protein Solutions, summarizes the feelings of those who are involved with the new rendering facility located a mile southeast of Freeman, about the unwelcome odor that has permeated the air this November.

“I’m hoping to see a big difference in 30 days,” he said.

Heiman isn’t the only one associated with Dakota Protein Solutions speaking out about the problem that has generated conversation around the community and on social media in recent weeks.

Scott Stern, one of the owners of the facility that opened this past September, told The Courier early this week that the situation is both unfortunate and front of mind.

“We’re going to take care of this,” he said. “This was part of the system we couldn’t test until we were in operation; I just feel horrible that we didn’t get it right out of the gate.”

The issue appears to be with airflow within the scubber system inside the facility designed to clean and filter the space every 15 minutes. Getting chemicals balanced with water, pH levels and timing has proven to be a challenge, Heiman said.

“Too much odor is being pulled out of the air scrubbers; that’s what we’re working on,” he said. “It’s not the trucks with dead animals that have been the issue. It’s the cooked smell.”

Stern said Dakota Protein Solutions didn’t know what they didn’t know when the rendering process began this fall. It’s like buying a new vacuum cleaner, he said; you don’t know how well it works — or doesn’t work — on a clean carpet.

Heiman said he has been in touch with those who make and manufacture the system and noted they were planning to be on site this week with equipment to test the system and, ultimately, solve the problem.

“I’m not an expert on how these scrubbers work, so we have the companies and suppliers coming in; they’re on the hook, too,” he said. “If they have to come out here and look at it, we’ll make sure they come here and look.

“I’ve got to hold the suppliers accountable to us so we’re accountable to the community.”

Dakota Protein Solutions has also reached out to the city of Freeman through a letter that was shared at the Freeman City Council meeting Tuesday night, Nov. 19. It reads:

“We write to you to acknowledge we have encountered some challenges managing our odor control at the plant during our start-up phase. This is unacceptable to us, and we know it is unacceptable to you. We want you to know we are actively working on this. This challenge has been a combination of items, including air ventilation physics as well as utilization of the correct chemistry cascading through the air scrubber to neutralize the odor.

“We have enlisted multiple contractors … some were part of the installation as well as additional outside entities with experience in this industry to assist on resolution of this problem.

“We want to affirm our commitment to you that we will resolve this issue. DPS wants to and will be good neighbors in our communities, and we sincerely apologize for this initial disruption in our operating capacity.”

Heiman told The Courier that’s it’s unfortunate these conversations need to take place, but that’s part of being part of a community.

“We want to live here and work here and don’t want to walk into a grocery store or gas station and have people look down on you,” he said. “When I’m around town or somebody’s out here, I try to ask to give an opening. If there are problems, those are good things to know.”

“We all want what’s best for the community — that’s bottom line,” Stern said. “And there is technology out there that will fix this. We will get it right.”

Dakota Protein Solutions was built from the ground up by an ownership group eager to bring a new ag-based industry to the larger Freeman community. The facility was constructed on the site of the former Dakota Rendering plant using state-of-the-art technology and is the only non-PR proprietary animal waste handling facility in the state of South Dakota.