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Angry Crockett residents confront officials over toxins in the air
Crockett residents are worried about the short and long-term effects to their health of hydrogen sulfide emissions in the air. But at a heated public meeting officials say the levels of the toxins are low and likely harmless. The toxin has been producing a foul odor for weeks.
CROCKETT, Calif. - A public meeting in Crockett got heated when community members demanded answers about why it took weeks to find out they were breathing in hydrogen sulfide.
A foul odor has been coming from a wastewater treatment plant since early September, leading to hundreds of complaints.
"This whole town has suffered because of you people. If you can live with yourselves shame on you!" said one resident who voiced her concerns at the meeting. "We have a right to know what’s going on. We have to worry about our health."
The wastewater treatment plant is owned by C&H Sugar. This prompted Contra Costa County Health Services to issue a health advisory. telling people to stay inside and close doors and windows.
"I haven’t been able to take my kids on walks downtown," said one resident. "I’m nervous taking my son to preschool and don’t know what the long term effects are."
SEE ALSO: Foul smell in Crockett to linger another 10 days
In a Zoom interview ahead of the meeting, C&H plant manager Hitesh Modgil blamed the heat wave in early September for the breakdown at the plant. "That caused a backlog in the waste treatment plant. And the water is treated by microorganisms which break it down and digest it. And with the backlog they will need time to work their magic and bring it back to normal levels."
Modgil said they are in the process of cleaning the industrial grade reactors at the plant. He believes the problem will be solved, and the smell will go away in the next seven to 10 days.