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DEQ says JP odor doesn't cause health problems, but residents want more tests

Jefferson Parish officials had initially planned to announce corrective measures this Friday, however, the conference was postponed until Monday.

JEFFERSON PARISH -- After several months of residents on the east bank of Jefferson Parish complaining of a foul odor, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality sent out a team to sample the air.

The results have come back and residents are frustrated.

"It's a very strong chemical smell, it smells very much like sulfur," Greg Hicks, a River Ridge resident said.

Residents like Hicks say that's not enough testing.

"They checked for six days and we only had one smell event during those six days," he said.

The tests revealed there were elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide and methane and that a landfill across the river was likely the cause. Jefferson Parish ended up being served with a compliance order over the violations.

"My 11-month-old daughter had a bloody nose two weeks ago, a lot of things that add up and it just doesn't make sense."

But the DEQ says the levels are not high enough to cause health issues.

"I disagree," Hicks said emphatically.

Eyewitness News sat down with LuAnn White, Director of Tulane University's Center for Applied Environmental Public Health and went over the report.

"The information you sent saw a blip in methane, well methane is a breakdown product in organic matter, but it's odorless, so it's not necessarily the odor that relates to health effect," she said.

Professor White looked at all the compounds measured, and she says nothing was even close to unsafe levels.

"Again looking for something that is an irritant is difficult, nosebleeds are more likely to be associated with allergies," White explained.

But she says the odor is unacceptable.

"The fact that you can smell it, is sufficient evidence that something needs to be done to mitigate those odors," White said.

And until that happens, that leaves hundreds of families in Jefferson Parish uncomfortable and worried.

Jefferson Parish officials had initially planned to announce corrective measures this Friday, however, the conference was postponed until Monday so that state officials could attend and answer questions. Eyewitness News will be there, and have more updates after.

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