Dearest Red (Herring) Phone, why is it when anyone ever mentions
the stink that comes from the South Valley Mushroom Farm (on Diana
Avenue) you tell your readers that this is rural living and we
should appreciate such things? I know of three (there may be more)
mushroom factories in our area.
Dearest Red (Herring) Phone, why is it when anyone ever mentions the stink that comes from the South Valley Mushroom Farm (on Diana Avenue) you tell your readers that this is rural living and we should appreciate such things? I know of three (there may be more) mushroom factories in our area. The one in question at Diana/Condit, the one on Santa Teresa and the one on Watsonville Road. I drive Santa Teresa frequently and I have never, not once in my nearly 10 years of living in Morgan Hill, smelled anything noxious emitting from that site. My son attends Oakwood School (quite close to the Watsonville site) and I have one time got a slight waft, but it was not as deleterious as what I have experienced while drinking my tea at Naomi’s, getting my toes done at Tip & Toe and playing with my kid at Nordstrom Park (better known as Stinky park.) There is something wrong with the site on Diana and I’ll not miss the stink if a new auto dealership moves in. Again I ask, why do you skirt the issue and tell us to basically ‘deal’ with it?”
Red Phone: Dear it Stinks, this issue was brought up by a caller last summer. But, Red Phone contacted Chris Rummel with the Santa Clara County Environmental Health Department again to get clarification on your questions. He said there are seven permitted mushroom factories that have composting in South County. Two of these receive their compost for growing mushroom fully composted from an out of county facility. These facilities have far less odors, and give off odor mostly when the compost is being loaded out into trucks. The Watsonville Road facility is one of these sites and they try to load out only at times when school is not in session or the breeze is blowing away.
The remaining five that actively compost straw, recirculated waters and several additives to produce ideal mushroom growing compost, include the Diana Avenue site. It is not any worse or better than the others.
“There is no way to stop the odors,” Rummel said. “If there was any way to reduce odors, believe me, they would be doing it.”
Now that new development has surrounded the site, this is increasingly difficult. Operators do try to be responsive and will take complaints seriously. A complainant should try to be specific about noting the date, time and place and wind direction when the odors are being experienced.
The biggest farm is on Santa Teresa. Overall odor output at this big farm is much higher than from the one in question. The other three smaller farms are on par with the Diana facility. Location has a lot to do with it. As urban development spreads out, people tend to grouse more because they are moving from areas that were not close to mushroom farms.
“I cannot disagree with the perception that it stinks, but I can assure the people that there is nothing of a harmful nature in what is being detected by sensitive noses,” Rummel said. “State testing has determined there is no health risk caused by the odors.”
There you have it, good caller. This is rural living. Gotta love it.
