Beth LeBlanc

Lansing State Journal

Katie Kesner had one word to describe the smell wafting toward her Gratiot Road home Monday:

Horrible.

“Some days we have to just stay in the house because it smells so bad,” the St. Clair Township woman said. “I get headaches all the time.”

Further north, on Pickford Road in Kimball Township, the smell of rotten eggs and natural gas dissipated, but neighbors Lindsey Moser and Ginnifer Hency said the odor wasn’t uncommon around their homes.

“There’s been a couple of times it’s been so strong if you wake up in the middle of the night, you can smell it inside,” Moser said.

“We thought it was a natural gas leak at first. The very first time it happened we called Semco.”

But the odor affecting people in and around Murphy Drive in St. Clair Township isn’t believed to be natural gas.

Fire crews and township officials believe the odor — which resulted in multiple complaints, starting in the spring and lasting into the fall — is coming from a crude oil tank farm at the end of Murphy Drive.

Marysville Fire Chief Tom Konik said his department has been called out to Murphy Drive for odor complaints at least 16 times from early April to late September.

Konik said the odor is obvious, but it isn’t strong enough to register on air-quality meters the fire department uses to detect fire, health or environmental hazards.

“More times than not, we can smell the odor, but it’s not significant enough that our meters will pick it up,” Konik said.

Konik said the fire department’s meters measure for oxygen, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulfide and combustible gases.

He said if the odor isn’t enough to register on the department’s meters, it is difficult to say what the health risks are.

Kimball Township Fire Chief Ed Gratz said his meters measure indicators of petroleum products being released.

But when he responded to a call of a natural gas odor on Pickford Road Monday morning, the meters didn’t pick up anything hazardous.

Gratz said Pickford Road is within Kimball Township Fire Department’s jurisdiction, while Murphy Drive, across Gratiot Road, is served by the Marysville Fire Department.

“We do follow up with our residents,” Gratz said. “We show them what we find, we document what we find.

“All of the meters have always been zero.”

Supervisors for both townships said they’re awaiting reports from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality Division.

Chris Etheridge, district supervisor for southeast Michigan DEQ air quality division, said DEQ representatives responded to complaints on Murphy Drive June 30, Aug. 26 and Sept. 29.

He said the air quality division planned to follow up on the complaints made Monday.

“We’re doing what we call a complaint investigation, basically conducting an odor investigation and determining compliance with any air quality rules,” Etheridge said.

Etheridge said, so far, the company has not been cited for any violations.

“At this time, we have not observed any violations,” Etheridge said.

“This one is a new one for us on the radar as far there being any controversy with it.”

Etheridge said people should contact the DEQ air quality division when they notice a strong odor. He said people should keep a log of odor strength, duration, time of day, wind direction and weather conditions.

He said people can contact Eric Gurshaw at (586) 753-3743 when there is an odor. Etheridge said people should try to contact the DEQ in a timely manner so a representative can arrive before the smell dissipates.

“It may not necessarily be something that we always get there on time for, but for a facility that has frequent odor issues we’ll eventually get there at the right time,” Etheridge said.

St. Clair Township Supervisor Brian Mahaffy said it appears the source of the odor has been narrowed down to Sunoco Logistics, which shares the tank farm with Enbridge.

“We’re not 100 percent sure yet,” Mahaffy said. “We’re trying to eliminate them, if that be the case.”

Enbridge spokesman Jason Manshum said the company had not received any odor complaints around its St. Clair Township tank farm.

Jeff Shields, Sunoco Logistics spokesman, said the company started to investigate the source of the odor toward the end of September.

“We suspended some of the truck unloading operations so we could better monitor that to determine whether that was a potential source,” Shields said.

“But we had some complaints today and there was no truck activity at the time.”

Shields said Sunoco representatives met with residents of Murphy Drive Sept. 26 to discuss what they’d experienced and what could be done.

“We haven’t determined that it is us for sure,” Shields said. “We’re trying to eliminate different possibilities and narrow it down.

“We take these complaints very seriously and we’re determined to figure out what’s going on here.”

Shields said air monitors were set up following the complaints, but no hydrocarbon releases have been identified.

He asked for public assistance in determining when the odor occurs. He said people should call (810) 364-6251 if the odor returned.

“We’re working with the local fire department to do what’s necessary if there are any specific health concern,” Shields said. “Without readings on the monitors, we don’t have data to determine that.”

According to Times Herald reports, Sunoco leaked about 42 gallons of crude oil in October 2010 in St. Clair Township.

The spill at Sunoco Logistics’ pump station at 215 Murphy Drive stemmed from a corroded pipeline.

The area around the St. Clair Township tank farm is zoned heavy industrial, which allows for petroleum and other flammable liquid storage, said Brian Bayly, St. Clair Township’s building inspector.

Joe and Michelle Sharp have lived in their home on Murphy Drive for about 10 years. They said occasional odors are common living near the tank farm, but the issue has compounded recently.

“It’s bad and it’s nauseating,” Michelle Sharp said. “It’s something that needs to be handled.”

Contact Beth LeBlanc at (810) 989-6259 or eleblanc@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @THBethLeBlanc.

ODOR COMPLAINTS

• Odor complaints in the area around the Murphy Drive crude oil tank farm can be made directly to the Sunoco facility at (810) 364-6251.

• People also should report odor complaints to Eric Gurshaw, of the MDEQ air quality division, at (586) 753-3743.

• People should keep a log of odor strength, duration, time of day, wind direction and weather conditions.