SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) - The South Sioux City Council will extend the hotel stays of residents displaced by noxious sewer odors through Feb. 14.
The City Council voted Friday to pay for the hotel rooms of about a dozen families who have still not returned to their homes, the Sioux City Journal reported (https://bit.ly/2k7eMUA ). The move came after Big Ox Energy announced it would stop paying for the hotel bills next week. Its renewable energy plant has been tied to the odors.
As many as two dozen residents were originally displaced by the rotten egg smell of hydrogen sulfide permeating several homes.
The source of the hydrogen sulfide is still being investigated.
In late October, city officials said the gas seemed to be emanating from sewer lines flowing from the Big Ox plant. But last week, Big Ox released a report blaming plumbing issues in the majority of the homes affected instead of discharges from the Big Ox plant.
Test results have shown that hydrogen sulfide is now at safe levels in the homes, and the city is still testing for any smelly sulfur-related compounds that remain.
City officials will begin meeting with individual homeowners and their attorneys in the coming days to address lingering problems.
“We’re not admitting any liability on the city’s part, but what we are saying is we’ve got citizens we need to take care of here, and we’re going to make sure we take care of them,” Mayor Rod Koch said after Friday’s meeting.
Jonathan Goodier, who has been living out of a hotel since late October, said the fumes forced him out of his home only two months after he moved into it.
He said the home’s carpet and flooring have been removed, and many of his belongings are stored outside and are likely damaged.
“It’s getting to the point where I’ve lived in a hotel longer than I’ve lived in our house,” he said.
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Information from: Sioux City Journal, https://www.siouxcityjournal.com
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