KEMMERER — A persistent rotten-egg odor in and around Kemmerer has become more than an unpleasant nuisance for residents who say the smell is interfering with their daily lives and raising questions about what they are breathing.
Residents from different areas around Kemmerer have reported recurring episodes of a strong sulfur-like odor they believe is associated with ponds at PacifiCorp’s Naughton Power Plant south of town. Some say the problem has existed for more than a year but has become particularly noticeable this summer.
Residents have described keeping windows closed, avoiding eating or sitting outside and, in some cases, considering moving because of the odor.
Longtime Kemmerer resident Pamela Burg shares those concerns.
Burg, who has taught in the local school district for 40 years, said the odor has changed how she and her husband have spent their summer.
“It’s pretty bad,” she said.
Burg said her husband contacted the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) more than a year ago about the odor and they believed at the time the issue would be addressed. Instead, she said, the problem has persisted and appears to have worsened.
“We have called and thought it would be resolved but here it is a year later and we are still smelling it. It has affected us. I wish for transparency,” she said.
“It has been a problem. I love opening windows, but right now you just can’t do it. I’m in shock it has gotten to this point,” she said.
Burg said she knows people who lived near Oakley who moved, in part to get away from the odor, only to find it was also noticeable closer to Kemmerer.
Her primary concern, she said, is determining whether the odor represents something more than an unpleasant smell.
“If it is toxic, we have been breathing this,” she said.
Hydrogen sulfide, commonly abbreviated H2S, is a gas known for its characteristic rotten-egg odor. Residents have questioned whether H2S is responsible for the odor and, if so, what concentrations may be reaching areas outside the Naughton property.
Conversation with
the Wyoming DEQ
DEQ Public Information Officer Jill Scott said they have been in contact with the Naughton plant and have requested samples from the pond at the plant. She said they are aware of complaints from the community.
She said the plant is “evaluating alternative chemical treatments” that she said would “mitigate the odor issue” at the ponds. Scott said she could not confirm if the odor was H2S but said they think it is coming from the evaporative ponds. She said the compliance team has “been out there” and plans to address concerns with the public.
She said further testing is required to determine if H2S is identified at the ponds but said “often that rotten-egg smell is indicative of H2S.” She said the Naughton staff is sampling at the site but did not know a timeline for “measurable improvements.”
Scott said that, earlier this month, they received 18 complaints over a 48-hour period.
“We are trying to work with the facility to get this issue under control,” she said.
Questions surround
plant’s ponds
At the Naughton plant, flue gas desulfurization systems (FGD), commonly known as scrubbers, are used to remove sulfur dioxide and other pollutants from power plant exhaust. Waste material from that process has historically been managed in the plant’s FGD ponds.
Kemmerer resident Marshal Corwin said friends who work at the Naughton plant have told him that residue from the plant’s scrubber towers is deposited in the ponds.
“The water from the ponds is going down, and it is almost gone,” he said.
Corwin said his friends who work at the plant are able to walk near the ponds and carry personal H2S monitors. He said he has heard differing explanations about whether the odor involves sulfur dioxide, or SO2, or hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, and acknowledged that he does not know which substance, if either, is responsible.
Similar concerns have recently arisen around the Rocky Mountain Power facility in Rock Springs. The Rock Springs Rocket Miner reported that DEQ initiated an investigation into foul odors associated with evaporation ponds at the Jim Bridger Power Plant following complaints from residents about sewer-like and rotten-sulfur smells.
In that case, Rocky Mountain Power attributed the odor to processes associated with scrubbers used to remove sulfur dioxide and other pollutants from power plant exhaust.
Groundwater history raises additional questions
The odor concerns also come against a history of groundwater issues involving some of Naughton’s FGD ponds.
PacifiCorp records show groundwater monitoring around FGD Ponds 1 and 2 detected several substances at levels that prompted further investigation and corrective measures.
PacifiCorp records also show that impacted groundwater captured beneath Pond 1 was routed to Pond 4 as part of those corrective measures. A 2023 company report states, “All artesian flow was captured and routed to FGD Pond 4.”
The groundwater history has nevertheless added to questions from residents about what has been placed in the ponds and what is happening there now.
The Gazette contacted PacifiCorp seeking information about the source of the odor but did not hear back from them before press deadline.
For residents, the immediate questions remain straightforward: What is causing the smell? What are people breathing? And when will the problem be resolved?
