Deal with Sanimax could bring better smelling days to South St. Paul

At Pomp’s Tire Service in South St. Paul, store manager Cody Swenson has grown accustomed to the noxious odor that occasionally wafts from the business down the road.

“It’s a necessary evil,” said Swenson of the stench from the nearby Sanimax plant.

There, workers and machinery turn animal parts into pet food, biofuels and even cosmetics — a laborious process that can pump out a smell neighbors have likened to rotting flesh.

But better smelling days could be on the way. South St. Paul reached a settlement with Sanimax in March, obligating the Montreal-based company to install equipment that minimizes unpleasant scents.

The agreement, which the City Council approved March 17, follows a years-long legal battle with Sanimax over its challenges to the city’s odor ordinance and zoning code.

Leaders hope it represents an enduring solution to a nose-wrinkling problem that has dogged the city for years.

“I’m confident [the company’s] intent is for the future and for fixing the issue,” Mayor Jimmy Francis said. “I know it’s been ours this entire time.”

A Sanimax spokesman, echoing the mayor’s message in a statement, pointed to the company’s ongoing efforts to reduce the plant’s impact on residents. The settlement, the statement continues, “is another positive step forward for the community and our company.”

The city has attempted for years to crack down on the stench associated with Sanimax’s bank of beige buildings at 505 Hardman Ave. S., which commuters crossing the Wakota Bridge sometimes smell before they see.

A plant manager hoped in 2010 that an $8 million remodel would eliminate the foul odor. But the problem persisted four years later, prompting South St. Paul to adopt an odor ordinance that allowed the city to fine offenders.

Sanimax, feeling the pressure, filed suit in federal court against the city in 2017, calling its smell rules unconstitutionally vague.

The company dropped its action a few months later after city officials agreed to strip its designation as a “significant odor generator.”

But Sanimax brought a similar action three years later, contesting an amended odor ordinance in court as well as a zoning change that prevented the company from expanding.

Around that time, complaints against the company accumulated as the COVID pandemic raged, forcing home-bound residents to face a smell they couldn’t evade.

The company opted not to pay the mounting fines as its lawsuit against the city unfolded, City Administrator Ryan Garcia said. When a court ruled on appeal in 2024 that the city’s odor ordinance was constitutional, Sanimax faced a pile of unpaid citations, Garcia said.

The company appealed them to Minnesota’s administrative court before approaching South St. Paul leaders with a proposition: What if the parties instead worked out an agreement?

Garcia said Sanimax’s decision to settle didn’t surprise him.

“It was a lot of time and energy focused on fighting over something that had been resolved through [the appeals court ruling],” Garcia said. “The individual citations hadn’t been resolved, but the merits of our ability to enforce our ordinance were upheld,” he added.

“It made some sense that [Sanimax] approached us and said, ‘Let’s start over.‘”

The agreement obligates Sanimax to pay the city $55,000 within 30 days of its approval. It also labels the plant a “significant odor generator” — a designation the company can’t appeal.

But the crux of the settlement requires the company to develop an “odor management plan” within 90 days, laying out the smell-minimizing technology it intends to implement.

The goal: Ensure Sanimax’s emissions comply with the city’s odor ordinance, which bars “offensive or obnoxious” smells.

The company has six months to implement the plan, which is contingent on city approval, and six additional months to adjust equipment.

During that time frame, the city will stop citing the company for any odor ordinance violations, though residents can continue lodging complaints during the equipment adjustment period.

Citations the city leveled against Sanimax between 2020 and 2023 will be dismissed. So will those issued last year — unless follow-up monitoring detects persistent smell problems, giving the city authority to collect those fines.

Francis, the mayor, said he’s optimistic the settlement will please businesses like Sanimax that contribute tax dollars to the city, as well as people who call South St. Paul home.

“We just want everybody to get along and be good neighbors,” he said.