An animal rendering and waste oil company is raising a stink over the city of South St. Paul’s foul odor ordinance, charging that it’s unconstitutionally vague.
Sanimax USA, a Green Bay, Wis., corporation, filed a federal lawsuit in St. Paul on Feb. 21 that says the city’s methods of identifying the source of bad odors violates the company’s constitutional right of due process. City officials did not respond to requests for comment.
South St. Paul’s ordinance outlaws the emission of odors that are “offensive or obnoxious.” It also allows the city to designate businesses as significant odor generators, subjecting them to greater regulation and potential fines.
The city notified Sanimax in December that it made the list of malodorous malefactors.
Sanimax contends that the two methods used by the city to identify offenders — a study it commissioned and a public complaint system — are unconstitutional.
The company’s lawsuit notes that the ordinance fails to define the terms “offensive” or “obnoxious” and that the technology used to measure them — an olfactometer called Nasal Ranger — is inadequate.
“The technology is dependent on the odor sensitivities of the user,” the company’s complaint says. “In addition, [it] is unable to determine the source of an odor — whether it comes from Sanimax, or whether it comes from one of the other odor generating facilities in the city.”
In addition, the source of “seven verifiable odor complaints” in a six-month period are designated as significant odor generators. The Sanimax suit says the definition of a “verifiable odor complaint” is unclear, however.
