READINGTON – Nearly a year since the state Department of Environmental Protection fined the operator of a marijuana grow facility on Route 22, the site is fully operational with odor-control systems in place.
But some neighboring residents say the smell of “skunk” persists and still causes issues.
Brenda Omilian, who has lived in Readington her entire life, gathered a petition with more than 100 signatures in protest of the Verano Holdings Cannabis Grow Facility and gave it to the township, but she said “they never responded.”
“I can smell it,” Omilian said. “I live up the road across from it, and you can smell it … it smells like skunk.”
Readington Mayor Juergen Huelsebusch said in an email on Wednesday that he’s “requested the latest updates and expects I will be able to update the public after I am briefed” in mid-July.
Lyle Alexander, who has lived in Readington for 50 years, said he still has trouble sleeping because of the smell.
“They get you up between 2 and 4:30 a.m., every morning, smelling this junk,” Alexander said. “The stench is that bad.”
Odor mitigation
A Verano spokesperson said the company modified its facility, since it was fined in August 2021, as part of its odor mitigation plan with “the installation of new mechanical, air handling and carbon filtering systems.”
Other measures taken include:
- The building’s envelope was sealed to reduce points where cannabis-related odors could be emitted into the air. Mechanical systems were installed to channel…