Complaint management

You are tired. You did not sleep much last night, that odour was unbearable. You feel sick and then again this morning that very same stink that has been around for months now. You feel stressed, nausea frequent headaches (link to health symptoms) and you are about to get crazy. You literally want to burn that plant, you would love to hit the owner and to paint the door of the town hall and the Environmental Office with eschatological phrases about how terribly they manage the air quality, cause they are doing nothing!

So, yeah you are in this stage in which you are about to shout to anybody, you feel powerless, miserable and you don’t know what to do.

So here you we bring you 6 steps to deal with your problem, that in our experience have helped out to many like you. We advise you that no step is simple and that to complete the path takes time, and sometimes money, but once you start the reward is usually worth for you and for your community.

--- With this part I just wanted to express the many times I have got people in my office who are defenceless, tired, unhinged, deranged or directly mad. This state of mind is totally understandable, and it is due to impotence, helplessness, frustration and above all un-empowerment (I just invented the word) in the sense that they are not in control of this part of their lives.

With the following steps we make them to regain control, we empower them. ---

Step 1. Relax.

You need to bring your mind down from that state of mind you are now. You need to be reasonable, people should see you as a normal person. This is very easy to say, but sometimes it is very difficult to achieve when you feel that stink again. But, in this case, take a deep stinky breath, make a funny joke about something else and relax. If it helps, take Yoga lessons or Tai chi.

It is very important that you are relaxed and focused during the following months. The tasks ahead are many.

Step 2. Contact the potentially odour impact generating activity (POIGI).

When you have a problem with your neighbour, because for example it is making too much noise, the best thing you can do is to speak to her/him straight away. Communication is key, but do it in a respectful and informative way.

That is, do not complain but do inform, in the sense that the best approach is to get results with a calm mood. That is, you will not get any positive result from a POIGI if you approach them shouting or insulting or not in a proper mood.

This way you open a channel and this channel should be open at all times along the next processes.

The POIGI plant manager will be respectful, cause nobody likes to be a bad neighbour, but of course, she or he will need to understand that actions need to be taken.

If the POIGI responsible do not attend your calls or do not want to meet, it means that this activity follows the old-school opaque behaviour. This might buy some time to the POIGI, but in the long run it will be worst.

Anyway, you know that cause you know the road to follow. So relax if you get no reply and follow step 3.

Step 3. Engage your community.

It is not only you who perceives the stink, there are a lot of people around who have the same problem that you.

In our experience, we have seen many times that communities, groups or organizations that are traditionally opposed to each other, to start interacting to each other to face a common odorous problem. Remember, they have the same problem than you, and because you are now relaxed and focused, it is easier to match your common points of view.

Here you have a trick: Use two common-sense arguments to engage your community:

1) Health: This odour impact is affecting the health of your communities. Here you have a few papers on the effects of odours in health. The results of a recent study published in 2016 showed significantly higher incidences of health symptoms (headaches, eye, nose and throat issues, wheezing, sneezing, shortness of breath, difficulty in concentration and general discomfort) in the communities exposed to some odorants.

2) Value of your properties: Houses subject to moderate and severe odour nuisance sell at a discount of 5% and 12% , respectively, compared to houses without nuisance. How much is the odour impact costing to your community ?

One tip here, make this view as apolitical as possible. You will get more people engaged this way. Also this way, we do not give the argument that odorous plant owners typically in our experience first express: “oh sure we produce some odours, but it is not about odours, it is about politics”.

You will not believe how many times we have heard the same argument from POIGI managers.

Do not give them an excuse for doing nothing, put aside your political views, your religion or your football team. This is not about you, it is about your community.

Step 4. Write and get it massively signed.

An odour impact is not just to perceive an odour once in time, it is a long term consequence. So you need to take a long term action that usually involves writing. So unfortunately, you will have to write a complaint. The good news here is that you will use the same text a few times, so you just need to write it once.

If you don’t know how to start, here you have an example (example). This letter will be presenting the cause of the odours, the owner or responsible of these ones (if we know it), time when these episodes occur, people affected, etc. You will be asking for an odour evaluation,implementation of odour abatement actions andfurther evaluation after implementation. A Gantt Chart is a great tool to set actions in time.

Once you have done the writing, and because you are now relaxed and focused and you have your community engaged, make them all sign the complaint. The more people that sign the complaint, the better. Usually plant owners and politicians get faster in motion when they read a complaint signed for a big group of people.

With steps 3 and 4 you have been building a community this is important for step 6.

Step 5. Send letters.

So now is the time. You have prepared very well, you have a complaint letter signed by a lot of people in your community. Well done! This was the most difficult task, that was in your hand.

Now let’s make a lot of copies, cause we will need them.

Here is the letter flow :

1) Contact the POIGI, preferably by writing so that you have a writing proof. Because you followed step 2 very well, you have an open channel to send that letter.

Wait a month or two, they will probably take actions, but you have to move on. Remember, abating odours is not an instant action, it might take some time to fully control an odour impact. In any case, you will be asking for a Gantt Chart with 1) an odour evaluation, 2) implementation of odour abatement actions and 3) further evaluation after implementation .

2) After a month, it does not matter if you got a reply from letter 1. Go to your town hall and present the same letter. Get a copy stamped

3) After a month, it does not matter if you got a reply from letter 2, send a copy of letter 2 to the regional environmental administration. Get a copy stamped

4) After a month, it does not matter if you got a reply from letter 3, send a copy of letter 3 to the national environmental administration. Get a copy stamped

5) After a month, it does not matter if you got a reply from letter 4, send a copy of letter 4 to the following organisms: your regional Ombudsman (in case you have any), your National Ombudsman and the European Ombudsman. Get a copy stamped

Now, take a deep breath, 6 months are over, but you have literally contacted any single organism that could be of help with a letter about the odour impact that a plant is producing in your community, signed by many many people.

Step 6. Record every single odour observation.

There are already many apps available to engage your community to register and map odours. Many of them are free. Get your community involved with these tools. When properly made, the information that can be obtained from this tool is invaluable.

Step 7. Solicitor.

This step is only recommended if no action has been taken. An action is a Gantt Chart with specific dates.

Maybe now is time to get a solicitor, but here actions for free are over and you need to get money to pay a professional. In this case, the specific procedure depends on the country.