KSU site trying to fix stench

? The Kansas State University Agricultural Research Center in Hays has three years to prove it doesn’t stink.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment granted the research station an abbreviated, three-year permit, then plans to review progress the facility makes in curbing the stench that has local residents crying foul.

Mayor Kent Steward first raised issues in 2003 about the smell emanating from the research center, where the university houses about 1,000 cattle. A year later, local business owner Sunell Koerner filed a formal complaint with the state, after patrons at her business in downtown Hays complained of the smell.

A public hearing was held Feb. 22, and state officials last week mailed their decision to those who attended.

“I thought the overall approach was pretty reasonable,” Steward said. “They granted it for a shorter period of time so they could review the procedures.”

Bob Gillen, who heads the research center, said staff members are cleaning pens more frequently and reshaping them to dry out more quickly after it rains. They are also experimenting with using fly ash as a surface treatment in pens, and they are shipping manure off site.

Ellis County Farm Bureau President Lance Russell said the research center has never been out of compliance and the public hearing and response from the Department of Health and Environment were mere formalities.

Steward has acknowledged that other businesses contribute to the smell in Hays, including the Hays Agricultural Research Center, the Fort Hays State University farm, and the city’s compost site and wastewater treatment plant.