LAMBERTVILLE: Neighbors complain about farm’s ‘rotten yogurt’ smell

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   WEST AMWELL — The aromas of roasted turkey and pumpkin pie are not the only thing wafting through the air in the township.
   ”It’s an awful smell we all get around here,” said Vic Peccarelli, of Mount Airy-Harbourton Road. “Personally, I’m a little tired of it. It’s disgusting. It’s garbage. You’re bringing garbage into this beautiful green space we all love.”
   The “garbage” is actually a food byproduct used by a local farmer to feed his plants and improve his soil. He gets it from Johanna Farms, which pays him a stipend. The process is overseen by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
   Johanna Farms scrapes the leftover material from vats in which yogurt has been mixed.
   Last week, Mr. Peccarelli appealed to the Township Committee to “do something” about what he called the “stench.”
   ”I’ll smell manure all day long, but I’m not going to smell rotten yogurt,” he said.
   Farmer Robert Fulper II, who did not attend the meeting, said he does not use the food byproduct because he gets paid to do so.
   He said he uses it on his land because “it’s the right thing to do; it’s a really good, healthy organic byproduct.”
   Mr. Fulper said, “This is a win-win. The stuff is not in a landfill. It’s a safe product. It’s probably safer than a commercial fertilizer as far as I know. The crops are better and healthier and yield really well.”
   In addition to running a dairy farm, Mr. Fulper grows in rotation corn, soybeans, rye, alfalfa and grasses.
   Mr. Fulper said he usually spreads the food byproduct weekly, “but it depends on how much Johanna farms has available.”
   He said he also tries to spread it in a timely manner because the longer it sits, the worse it smells.
   ”I try to spread it pretty much immediately,” Mr. Fulper said.
   But that’s not always possible when it rains, he acknowledged. Recently, there was an extended rain delay.
   ”I guess I’m human, and I can’t control the weather,” he said. “I’m always working around the weather.”
   He said he tries to be a courteous neighbor. Among his concessions to neighbors is refraining from spreading the material during the weekend when more folks are home and probably outdoors or entertaining guests.
   Not so, according to Mr. Peccarelli.
   ”You want to open your windows on a nice day, and you get that stench,” he said.
   Mr. Fulper said he recently spread the material on his land on a Friday, and Saturday there was no odor. Still, by Monday he had learned there were several complaints.
   ”I was just really surprised,” he said.
   Township officials said they have heard complaints from other residents besides Mr. Peccarelli, but they said none has been willing to speak publicly about the problem.
   ”Not everyone wants to come forward, and that’s unfortunate,” Deputy Mayor Ron Shapella said.
   Mr. Shapella said the DEP has jurisdiction over Johanna Farms’ byproduct, not the township.
   ”We have no authority, but we can support residents who come forward and complain,” Mayor William Corboy said.