| 6/27/2010 | Email this article • Print this article | | How do you measure smell? |
In short, the field olfactometer determines how many dilutions of clean air are necessary to bring an air sample's concentration to undetectable levels using a fancy machine and an old-fashioned (but well-trained) schnoz.
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SSP enlists 'Nasal Ranger'
Danielle Cabot
Review Staff
The South St. Paul City Council will have a new gadget soon to help them sniff out the worst odiferous offenders in town - The Nasal Ranger.
The Nasal Ranger, a "field olfactometer" used to quantify concentrations of smells, will establish real figures to help measure odors produced by businesses in town. From there, the city council intends to develop an ordinance to regulate and reduce offending odors.
The goal is to remove one more barrier to economic development where the stockyards once operated and where existing businesses, such as a meat-rendering facility, create aromas of their own.
The council approved June 21 spending not more than $2,700 for St. Croix Sensory, Inc. to measure current odor levels in the city sometime in July. Based in Lake Elmo, St. Croix Sensory holds the patent for the Nasal Ranger. The results of its "Odor Survey" will be presented to the council no later than Aug. 31.
The city also plans to invest $2,527 for its own device, and $2,075 for training two staff members at "Odor School" to properly use the equipment. That figure will also pay for a second training session for up to 18 other people, who could come from city staff, the River Heights Chamber of Commerce or the business community.
"We're leading-edge here in South St. Paul," Mayor Beth Baumann said.
After that, the staff has been directed to develop an ordinance to limit stinky smells that waft beyond property lines. Odors are already covered in the city's nuisance ordinance, "but it doesn't quantify what makes an odor a nuisance," said City Planner Peter Hellegers.
The odor-specific ordinance would be the first in Minnesota that Hellegers is aware of, though similar rules establishing smell "thresholds" exist in other states.
The technology has already been used in the Twin Cities to solve smelly situations, notably at the Hennepin Energy Resource Co., located next to Target Field in Minneapolis, where garbage is processed.
Hellegers has already met with the Chamber and local businesses to include them in the discussion, a theme the council emphasized will be crucial to proceeding. Council member Tom Seaberg said there ought to be a "clear and documented invitation (to businesses) to join testing and have their own tester (present)."
Council members seemed particularly keen on ensuring that any data collected through the Nasal Ranger testing would stand up in court.
Danielle Cabot can be reached at southwest@lillienews.com or 651-748-7815.
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