IDAHO FALLS — Intermountain Packing has been charged with a misdemeanor after complaints the smell emanating from its property is “harming the enjoyment” of locals.
Intermountain Packing LLC and the company CEO, David Adams, have been charged with misdemeanor public nuisance.
Court records allege that Intermountain Packing “allow(ed) a pungent odor that is offensive to the senses and which interfered with a considerable number of persons and/or an entire community or neighborhood’s comfortable enjoyment of life and/or property to be emitted from the facility.”
According to police reports, on Dec. 9, an Idaho Falls Police officer was assigned to investigate “the smell” from Intermountain Packing at 1096 East Iona Road.
Intermountain Packing is a 66,000-square-foot beef and bison processing plant.
The officer contacted Robert Getsinger, an employee with the City of Idaho Falls Sewer Department, who reportedly stated that during the week of Dec. 1, he was driving near North Holmes Avenue and Lincoln and could smell an odor “emanating” from Intermountain Packing that “smelled like death.”
Getsinger told the officer that the smell wafts throughout the city and stated that he maintains the lift station closest to Intermountain Packing and the sewer line near Shelley Street, Ada Avenue, and Mound Avenue.
According to police reports, the City of Idaho Falls installed a machine called the Titus Twister in the wet well near Intermountain Packing to “aerate the well, which causes wastewater of Intermountain Packing odors of the facility from the sewer to dissipate better.”
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Getsinger stated that the city’s sewer department is responsible to maintain the well and Titus Twister weekly by cleaning the hose from the machine. He reportedly told the officer that the “toxic gas from the blood (at Intermountain Packing) is very corrosive to the machine, and if the machine breaks, the smell becomes much worse.”
Getsinger said there is “constantly a complaint of bad odors near the sewage lift station near West Shelley Street, Ada Avenue, and the Mound Street lift station.” He stated that the city had installed filters in the manholes to reduce the odors.
Officers spoke with City of Idaho Falls Wastewater Superintendent Carl Utter, who stated that city employees are now required to wear gas masks when working on sewer or wastewater lines near Shelley Street and Ada Avenue because “employees have previously become sick due to being exposed to gasses within the manholes of the sewer or wastewater lines while dealing with the carbon filters.”
Utter also said the city had placed odor loggers into the manholes to “measure the odor.”
The officer then called the City of Idaho Falls Wastewater Foreman, Darrin Lords, who provided a list of complaints beginning in April 2024 and ending on Dec. 8. The officer wrote that “most of the complaints were from the area of Shelley Street and Ada Avenue and a few from Mound Avenue.”
The officer met with Adams and explained what he had learned about the smell complaints. According to court documents, Adams stated that he did not believe Intermountain Packing was completely at fault for the bad smell.
“(Adams) explained to me that while the wastewater pipe runs in the area of Shelley Street and Ada Avenue, it is only one of approximately four pipes that all join in that area,” says the police report. “Therefore, (Adams) believed that Intermountain Packing was only partially responsible for the smell in that area.”
Adams reportedly said that Intermountain Packing had paid for the Titus Twister and all of the carbon filters the city had installed, costing approximately $75,000.
The officer noted Adams also said the smell coming from Intermountain Packing is “actually wastewater, and it doesn’t come from the exhaust of the building.” Adams told the officer that “after animals are slaughtered at the facility, solids and fats of the animals are removed from the wastewater through screens at the facility.”
Adams stated that all animal byproducts are “hauled away from the facility in semi-trucks” and that “the only particles that go into the wastewater and sewer facilities are blood and heated water.”
According to the police report, Adams said he had contacted local engineers who explained that the blood and waste were safe to enter the sewer and wastewater lines and “actually helped break down other components of sewage and waste.”
The officer did not cite him then because “(Adams) has met every expectation asked of him by the City of Idaho Falls.”
Adams then told the officer that all of the facility’s exhaust is “heavily monitored” and within the Department of Environmental Quality specifications.
The officer contacted Idaho Falls City Counsel Member Lisa Bradshaw and Idaho Falls Public Information Officer Eric Grossarth, who said on Dec. 6, “a bunch of citizens from the City of Idaho Falls complained about the smell throughout the city.”
Bradshaw and Grossarth say they tracked the smell to Intermountain Packing. They also told the officer that “most citizens complaints from Dec. 6 were from Intermountain Packing’s physical location and not the wastewater and sewer lines near Shelley Street.”
The officer spoke with Rensay Owen, a DEQ employee, who stated that DEQ does not measure odor and cannot tell Intermountain Packing that the odor is unlawful.
Local’s complaints
Multiple citizens provided their own affidavits, explaining their experiences with the smell and how it has negatively affected their lives.
One letter from a citizen who is often near the facility says it has kept her family from visiting Mitchell’s Restaurant near Intermountain Packing.
“When I drive by (Intermountain Packing), I will change the setting in my vehicle to recycle the air to avoid smelling the scent from (Intermountain Packing),” says the citizen. “When I forget to do so, I will usually smell the scent in my vehicle and it is horrible.”
Another citizen who rents properties in the area says he is concerned that his properties will lose value due to the smell coming from Intermountain Packing.
“I own rental properties on Johnson Street in Idaho Falls. One of my tenants has informed me that it stinks outside and that the tenant does not want to be outside,” says the citizen. “I am concerned that my rental properties may lose value due to the smell coming from (Intermountain Packing).”
Multiple citizen’s letters discuss the smell as being similar to dead animals.
“The odor from (Intermountain Packing) smells like decaying animal flesh,” writes one citizen. “I am familiar with this odor based on my previous experience helping animal control with dead deer. The odor from (Intermountain Packing) is different than the smell of manure or a feedlot.”
Another citizen stated the smell has caused her to become physically ill and kept her family from attending baseball games at Melaleuca Field.
“I generally avoid taking my son to the park because of the smell,” said the citizen. “We have had season tickets to Melaleuca Field, which is near my residence, but many times did not attend games because of the smell. The smell has caused me to be on the verge of vomiting at times.”
Intermountain Packing responds
Intermountain Packing and Adams were summoned to court on Jan. 22 and are scheduled to be arraigned on Friday. Adams sent the following statement to EastIdahoNews.com Wednesday in response to the charge:
Intermountain Packing provides quality beef product to national suppliers throughout the City of Idaho Falls and across the United States. It recognizes that meat packing is difficult work and has constructed a top-of-the-line facility to bring quality beef to market. Intermountain Packing has always worked closely and transparently with the City of Idaho Falls from the time it developed its business plan and opened its doors to today. Prior to approving Intermountain Packing’s facility, the City required a development agreement that Intermountain Packing has followed in every particular and more. Intermountain Packing installed, at its own cost, all wastewater infrastructure required by the City and its design engineers. It has, until recently, met with the City on a weekly basis. In the fall of 2024, the City—not Intermountain Packing—stopped or delayed those weekly meetings. Intermountain Packing pays a large monthly fee to the City to mitigate odor and treat its wastewater. At the City’s demand, Intermountain Packing also recently purchased equipment not required by the development agreement to mitigate odor concerns. The City has still not confirmed whether it has completed installation and whether the equipment is working continuously as the City planned. Intermountain Packing—like all Idaho Falls businesses and property owners—does not control its wastewater once it enters the Idaho Falls wastewater system. It has no way of knowing how that wastewater interacts with the City’s existing infrastructure, including the junctions at which different streams of wastewater meet, and the odors caused at these junctions. It will continue to work with the City to evaluate these issues.
Intermountain Packing was surprised by the City’s decision to file criminal proceedings against Intermountain Packing and its CEO, legal proceedings that the City’s filing alleges can result in fines and even jail time. Prior to filing the criminal complaints, neither the City’s legal department nor Public Works reached out to Intermountain Packing to discuss the odor issues or identify specific action the City needed or wanted Intermountain Packing to take in addition to what it is already doing. Instead, it jumped straight to filing criminal proceedings without notice or opportunity to respond. Every business owner in Idaho Falls should be concerned with the City’s decision to use criminal proceedings as a sword to score political points without notice or opportunity to timely address legitimate concerns. The City has, for example, recently accused Intermountain Packing of ignoring its requests to meet and discuss the odor. That is false. It highlights the lack of communication between the City’s Legal Department and the Public Work’s department. In fact, Intermountain Packing met with Public Works weekly until Public Works terminated that meeting. Intermountain Packing has made its facility and its CEO open and available. It has complied with the City’s infrastructure requirements in every particular and beyond. It will continue to do so. Unfortunately, working with the City becomes difficult when officials use the threat of criminal proceedings—however minor—to respond to a public relations problem instead of working with local businesses to solve problems. We hope the City will reconsider its criminal charges and work with Intermountain Packing rather than threatening a compliant, hard-working local business with criminal penalties.
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