New Jersey County Fights Landfill Odors Using Fragrant Spray Trucks

Not to be outdone by the Chinese and their deodorant guns, Middlesex County, New Jersey has unveiled their secret weapon against landfill stink, a perfume spraying truck. The flatbed truck equipped with special nozzles now drives around the 200-plus acre landfill spraying hundreds of gallons of a soapy, slightly citrus-scented liquid. From the article: "'It has a pleasant, showery smell,' said Richard Fitamant, executive director of the Middlesex County Utilities Authority, which runs the landfill. 'It's not offensive and it's not overpowering. It's a light scent.' Faced with a competing mandate to handle the loads of trash while curbing the stench, officials have turned to the roving, over-sized air freshener to control the smells wafting from the 200-plus acre landfill."

Re:Smells fresh, but probably worse than trash

[drinkypoo]

Doing this is possibly a violation of Federal law:

AIR FRESHENERS CAN BE AIR POLLUTERS

Asthma and allergy rates are on the rise and many people are concerned about air pollutants. Some people are adding potent chemicals to the air they breathe without even realizing it. As Dr. Dean Edell comments, "Breathe in, breathe out. What you're supposed to breathe is plain ole fresh air, not pollution - but not perfume either. So why do so many of us turn to air fresheners to freshen what is already fresh? Lots of folks put them in their kitchen, in the bath, and all over the house. Many even put them in their cars."

The UC Berkeley Wellness Letter asked a critical question. Do these air fresheners really do anything? And more importantly, are they good for your health? "Depending on the brand, fresheners can release camphor, alcohol, limonene, and other substances which might be harmful when vaporized and breathed. Some products contain more toxic chemicals like paradichlorobenzene - also used as a moth repellent - which is now so common it turns up in trace amounts in almost all blood samples. But the real potential for harm is to people with asthma and other breathing problems."

LEGAL HISTORY

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1992 guarantees disabled individuals access to institutions, such as government agencies, libraries, doctors' offices, retail stores, and many other places. The Social Security Administration and HUD recognize Multiple Chemical Sensitivity/Environmental Illness as a disability. Fragrances are a "barrier to access" since breathing can be affected. Breathing is a "major life activity" as defined by the ADA. Fragrance bans meet the "reasonable accommodation" clause of the ADA, since elimination and substitution are not expensive.

Source: It's Not the Smell, It's the Chemical, a brochure from the Mendocino County Working on Wellness program [mendocino.ca.us]

HBO and MTV don't accurately portray the state

[perpenso]

Why not the whole state?

Because a lot of the state is actually quite nice. Woods, rivers, lakes, trails, beaches ... Small/medium sized towns and suburbs filled with trees or on the coast ... The run down industrial areas that you see on the Sopranos and the tourist oriented areas you see on Jersey Shore are the exceptions, not the rule. There are lots of jokes about the industrial and tourist areas, many from New Jersey residents, but there are also some pretty nice areas that ex-presidents retire to, executives working out of NYC live in, etc. There are also a lot of nice places for middle class budgets.

They're not "special"

[handy_vandal]

"The flatbed truck equipped with special nozzles ..."

Hello -- "special" troll here with a special alert.

This perfume-dispensing nozzle is not special. It does what every other nozzle does: nozzle stuff. Nothing "special" about it.

If what you really mean is "I'm super-impressed by this nozzle, because it's doing nozzle stuff I've never dreamed of before," then say that instead.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Re:Nice

[Mashiki]

Good idea, burning is good. There used to be a waste-to-energy place about 40km from my home. Nimbyists successfully managed to get it shut down, it used to provide power to the city, hot water to all the nearby hospitals(4 of them), steam for those hospitals for various uses. And in the end it worked really well.

I blame enviromentalists and idiots. Both were at fault for it, now it sits there. Of course, if one remember the other day with the 'smart recycling bins' in a lot of places recycling material is simply thrown out with the trash anyway by the municipalities.

Re:HBO and MTV don't accurately portray the state

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, mod this guy up.

When traveling to New Jersey, I was pleasantly surprised ... once I got past the industrial wastelands facing towards New York on the opposite side of the river/bay, and continued heading southwards. And as you suggest, I also didn't go as far to the south as Atlantic City and other tourist-infested areas.

It was particularly beautiful in the Pine Barrens [wikipedia.org]. Trust me, it's nice. I was traveling from Canada, and we have pretty high standards when it comes to beautiful forests.