The air in the dispute over the fragrance is a little out for now. In May, the Baierbrunn municipal council decided to initiate an award procedure, at the end of which a specialist company should be commissioned to measure odor emissions on site. The background to this are complaints from residents that unpleasant chemical smells are wandering the streets from time to time. A company based in the commercial area on Oberdiller Strasse, which develops and produces perfume oils for the cosmetic, soap, detergent and cleaning agent industries, is considered to be the culprit.
The possible investigation of odor immissions will now be delayed, also because the administration waited in vain for suggestions for locations for a potential measurement – neither citizens nor local councils came up with anything in this regard. “If you want these measurements, tell us where!” Said Patrick Kohlert, head of the building authority, at the most recent meeting of the local council. Apparently the odor nuisance pressure was not so great after all, one or the other local council like Uwe Harfich (SPD) indicated that the olfactory situation on site could have improved in the past few months. Mayor Patrick Ott (non-partisan voter group Baierbrunn) did not rule out that new filter systems at the fragrance company – formerly Drom Fragrances, today Givaudan – may be responsible for this.
Where the smells come from and whether they actually exceed the limit of unreasonableness is generally very complicated to prove. In any case, in order to determine the usual emissions, an elaborate grid investigation would be necessary over a period of six months and with around 50 appointments at selected locations. This would probably not be cheap either; according to an initial offer from a company in the spring, the costs for such an examination should amount to 30,000 euros. These are not foreseen in the 2021 budget.
But now the local council will first accept the offer of a tour by the management of Givaudan and seek a conversation. In doing so, one has an eye on whether to have the measurements carried out by a company commissioned by both sides and then to share the costs. The local council voted unanimously in favor of it.