Adrian residents protest smell surrounding factory

ADRIAN, Michigan (WTVG) - It’s in the air around Crimson Holdings, and residents say it permeates into the surrounding neighborhood.

“It’s something like I’ve never smelled in my life,” said DeVille Elliot, who lives near the factory in Adrian.

The smell, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, is coming from the facility run by Crimson Holdings. Inside, the state says the factory is drying eggs and processing them for use in pet food.

Thursday night, neighbors gathered at Monument Park, then marched in protest to the plant.

“My whole house smells like feces,” explained Paul Torres. “If I’d known this place was coming in, I’d’ve moved out long before.”

“I feel like we’re hostages in our homes because of that smell,” added Ray DeLeon.

In 2022, the City of Adrian issued a civil infraction over the smell. After that, court documents show Crimson Holdings agreed to install a new 100-foot stack to resolve the odor issues. In a Facebook post about the new stack, The City of Adrian explains that the state determined “it had made matters worse because their emissions lacked sufficient heat and velocity to adequately clear the stack.”

The post goes on to state, “While we are not at liberty to disclose settlement discussions, the City will not agree to any resolution that is not designed to result in the abatement of the current nuisance.”

Crimson Holdings has launched a website called CrimsonCares.com. On that site, the company has an open letter to the people of Adrian, stating that it has complied with requests from the city and state, and invested more than $2M in new equipment and procedures. You can also fill out a form to submit a message to the company.

“Crimson Holdings is committed to being a good neighbor in Adrian and having a positive impact in the community,” the company told 13 Action News in a statement. “We are working every day to mitigate odors from the facility. Additionally, we are working with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and city of Adrian on installing a scrubber. We respect the community’s right to voice their concerns and hope for these conversations to turn into a productive dialogue, like we’ve had with so many residents. We encourage residents to visit CrimsonCares.com, where we will also be sharing progress on our odor mitigation efforts.”

Meantime, Crimson Holdings is now ordered by Judge Lara Schaedler to only conduct egg processing between 7:00 PM and 7:00 AM. The company is appealing that ruling and another hearing is set for July 19, 2023,

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