Odor Information
2022 Odor Workshop
The WPWMA is holding its 12th annual Odor Workshop virtually on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. If you’re interested in attending and engaging in a positive dialogue on odor mitigation, regulations, and upcoming progress to the WPWMA facility, please RSVP HERE.
You can watch the 2021 meeting video here: 2021 Odor Meeting Video
Site Wide Odor Plan
The WPWMA worked with the Placer County Air Pollution Control District to develop a Site Wide Odor Plan (SWOP, approved by the WPWMA Board of Directors at their December 11, 2020 meeting.
The SWOP was established to provide clear, concise information about facility odor sources, operational and meteorological conditions having the potential to exacerbate the perception of odors, and the measures the WPWMA takes to reduce the potential for facility odors to be perceived by nearby receptors.
The SWOP will serve as a tool for the WPWMA and its facility operators, contractors, consultants and lessees to consistently and proactively reduce the potential for off-site odors.
Facility Odors
While odors are a natural and unavoidable byproduct of the decomposition of organic materials, the WPWMA endeavors to reduce the potential for the generation of odors from our facility. Staff continuously monitors facility operations and weather conditions in an effort to identify and minimize potential sources of odors.
The WPMWA employs an odor monitoring system designed to continuously measure specific odors and their intensities at four locations on the WPWMA’s property. Data from seven additional on-site and four off-site odor sources considered to have relatively consistent odor emission profiles are also included in the model, though these sources are estimated rather than measured. These data are coupled with on-site weather station data to generate air dispersion models of the measured and estimated odors.
The continuous odor monitoring system is used to assist in investigating reported odors, better understand the combination of operational and meteorological conditions that may result in odor impacts to the community, and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of specific odor reduction efforts.