Cottage Grove, OR

Cottage Grove, OR is a town in Lane County, OR near the city of Eugene. For three decades, the city has applied its treated sewage sludge to land as a means of disposing of it. It has applied the sludge in the same location since 2003. However, in 2011, the terrible smell of the sludge made headlines for a full month and led to anti-sludge petitions and threats of lawsuits from residents.

Complaints About Odor
Here are excerpts of complaints about sewage sludge odor in Cottage Grove in 2011:
 * "This is how it is day and night. It smells like all the residents of Cottage Grove are taking a crap in a field right down the road." - Craig Pataky
 * "The stench is unbearable for some of these residents, their daily routines ruined by a strong odor seeping into their neighborhood from less than a mile away... It was so acrid that I had a severe headache. Never have a bad headache. And I was that close to throwing up." - Les Moore
 * "Sickening, nauseating." - Ted Maki."
 * ""Our quality of life has gone down practically to zero. We cannot function outside of our homes." - Sharon Tobiasson
 * ""It smells just like an outhouse to me... Would you want to sit six hours in an outhouse?... I don't think anybody should be living in that kind of a smell for 30 days" - Gary Ordway.
 * "Sickening, very sickening, it's nauseating... I don't know what stuff this does seeping into the ground water with all that kind of junk that's in that sewage." - Ted Maki
 * "The smell has kept us from doing our normal activities. I think this is the first time my wife has sat on this patio because of the smell." Nathan Randal
 * "It smells like a ripe, an over-ripe outhouse...Depending on on which way the wind blows, it's still going out a mile or two... By the time I came in, I had a fierce headache, and I was about ready to heave." - Les Moore
 * "The smell is very nauseating, and it's very strong, and it even burns in your throat." - Peggy Eikman
 * "My kids are trapped in the house in the summertime. We don't have air conditioning in our house. I'm unable to open my windows. I feel like prisoners in our own home." - a Cottage Grove father of four.
 * "I have to wear a mask with peppermint oils when we go outside to work in our fields -- we have a produce farm -- because I cannot work outside." - A Cottage Grove farmer.

Other SourceWatch resources

 * Sewage Sludge
 * Food Rights Network
 * Biosolids
 * The EPA's plan to bypass opposition to sewage sludge disposal
 * Water Environment Federation
 * You say biosolids, I say sewage sludge
 * Scientific Studies of Sewage Sludge
 * Sewage sludge giveaways, producers, and brands
 * Sludge contaminants
 * Sludge News
 * Sewage Sludge Primer

External Articles

 * Kate Renner, ""Stop Our Stench" Group Petitions the State," KEZI, August 22, 2011.
 * Crystal Price, "City Council called to odor: 'The smell is very nauseating', KVAL, August 9, 2011.
 * Saul Hubbard, "Residents to voice sludge concerns: They’ll express their displeasure about the smell to the Cottage Grove City Council," The Register-Guard, August 8, 2011.
 * Kate Renner, "Cottage Grove "Stop Our Stench" Group Speaks Out," KEZI, August 8, 2011.
 * Gia Vang, ""Stop Our Stench" Prepares for Cottage Grove Meeting," KEZI, August 8, 2011.
 * Jeff Skrzypek, "Odor Continues from Dumping Situation," KEZI, August 1, 2011.
 * Greg Bolt, "The Big Stink: Cottage Grove’s annual disposal of sewage sludge is putting something nasty in the air," The Register-Guard, July 28, 2011.