GENEVA – For weeks, Kerri Lee wondered what was causing the relentless stench on South Fourth Street in St. Charles where she lives.
"It was horrific," Lee, 34, said. "I was born and raised in St. Charles and I never smelled anything like that."
Then last week after she drove past Burgess Norton on Peyton Street in Geneva, Lee believed she found the source of the malodorous stink.
"It hit me like a brick," Lee said. "It made me gag. It actually made me dry-heave a little bit, it was that horrific. I thought they were burning bodies, it was that disgusting."
Burgess Norton officials admitted Thursday that it is the source of an odor wafting through St. Charles and Geneva neighborhoods for the past two months.
"We have what we believe is the source of the smell," Burgess Norton human resources director Rita Seiller said. "We are looking to see if we can mitigate the source of the smell. We do not know which option may be the best."
The odor seems to be coming from a machine oil used in a process to make piston pins, she said. Seiller would not identify the process as proprietary to their manufacturing.
And though noxious, the smell is not hazardous, Seiller and the company's environmental manager Tom Wenzel said.
Replacing the oil with an alternative that does not smell, as well as using a mist collection system or filter are among the options under consideration, Seiller and Wenzel said.
"If there are concerns, neighbors are more than welcome to come to our facility and ask for me by name," Seiller said.
The company will host a townhall meeting for concerned neighbors from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25 at the factory, 737 Peyton St., Geneva. Seiller said information about the oil used will be made available to them.
"We are always going to be a good corporate citizen and have been for over 100 years. We encourage neighbors to come forward. We are happy to work with them and let them know they don't have to be concerned," Seiller said.
The process using the oil is new to the factory, Wenzel said. In any case, the process will be relocated to another facility in February. Wenzel said workers in the plant did not complain of any odors.
Company officials were first notified of neighbors' complaints through Geneva Building Commissioner Charles Lencioni and Deputy Fire Chief Jerry Koster.
"There is a rather unpleasant odor on the west side of town," Lencioni said. "It's a musty, moldy smell. We've had calls that it's being smelled at Miller and Fabyan;. It's been smelled at Peck Road and Route 64, at Route 38 and Kirk Road and Route 38 and Kautz Road."
Koster said he checked at various factories in Geneva trying to track down the smell.
"It was not very scientific, I was just sniffing and checking the wind," Koster said. "We met with Burgess Norton and had suspected that it was coming from their facility."
Burgess Norton neighbors on North Sixth Street in Geneva, Casey Duerr and Jeffrey Brunet, say they smelled the odor and wondered what it was.
"We have lived there for eight years and never smelled that before," Brunet said. "It is definitely a chemical, caustic smell."
"It's a terrible stench," added Duerr. "It's constant. It's been weeks now and I considered moving. How would you like that next to your house? My concern is, why didn't we know about this?"
Brian Russ, a neighbor of Lee's on South Fourth Street in St. Charles, said the odor has been getting worse in recent weeks and strongest when passing by Burgess Norton.
"It is musty, mildewy, sweet, pungent and sulfurous," Russ, 31, said. "I never smelled anything like that in my life. Tuesday night, it was so strong, you could smell it in our house. When I get in my car in the morning, I could smell it in my car."
Neither Lee nor Russ believe the smell is not harmful.
"How do they know it's not dangerous?" Russ said. "Taking a company at face value while it's putting a stench into the air that I can smell six blocks away? Prove it does not hurt our bodies ... back those words up."
"I don't trust them," Lee said. "I am so ticked off. Nothing that smells that disgusting is going to be pleasant for my health."
Who: Neighbors concerned with a noxious odor
What: Townhall meeting to answer questions, address concerns
Where: Burgess Norton, 737 Peyton St., Geneva
When: 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25
Why: To discuss the smell coming from the factory
How: Concerns can also be addressed with Rita Seiller at 630-232-4100 or by visiting the factory.
Also: Company officials say the odor is not harmful, they are working to eliminate it and will have information about the oil they believe is causing the odor