Township continues to document odor complaints

Laketown Township wants residents to keep complaining about the odors coming from the trash station and compost area along 60^th Street.

The board of trustees on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, unanimously voted to have staff members continue sending resident complaints to the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, Republic Services and Cocoa Corp.

Supervisor Steven Ringelberg said that in the past, the township did not record the complaints because the issue is handled at the state level. He is changing that.

“Everybody who makes a complaint to the township about bad odors emanating they believe from Republic or Cocoa, we make a record of it,” he said. “We push that complaint to Republic. We push that complaint to EGLE and we do everything we can to pressure those two entities to try to remediate the problem.”

Cocoa Corp., an independent composting business, leases its property from adjoining Republic Services, 4368 60^th St., between the I-196 and U.S. 31 overpasses. Republic operates a transfer station for waste and recycling.

To report an odor, record your address, the date of the smell, the time of the smell, the wind conditions and other relevant description such as whether it is a garbage-related odor or a compositing/organic odor so EGLE can identify a pattern and help determine if the source is the transfer station or the compost operation.

Send your complaint to office@laketowntwp.org. The township will dispatch a staff member to the site, pass the complaint on to EGLE, and to Republic Services and Cocoa.

A report form is available by clicking here. You can fill that out, download it and email it to office@lakaetowntwp.org.

Odors

At Wednesday’s meeting, residents told the board that the smells have gotten worse in recent years. Some residents said they can’t open their windows or sit out in their yards. Others said they have left their homes to stay in other locations away from the strong odors.

Eight people spoke at the meeting about the odor.

The owner of Cocoa Corp., Adam Brent, acknowledged strong odors do come from the composting material, especially when the windrows are turned, which they must be by state law five times in a 15-day period. The material is turned Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. but not on the weekends.

Cocoa uses 3.5 acres of the about 10-acre site for composting.

The company is planning to move its operation to Berrien County, a process that started in April 2024. Multiple permits are required before anything can happen, Brent said. That expected move, which has met with permit delays, is one reason the odor has intensified.

Brent had multiple smaller rows of composting material, but when he began to plan his move, those piles were combined into larger berms that amplify the odors.

EGLE inspections

EGLE has investigated the site multiple times this year and no violations have been noted. EGLE was at the facility on Oct. 1, toured the composting site, and found no violations.

On Oct. 2, another EGLE employee drove by the facility and did not notice any odors.

Laketown Township Manager Stephanie Fox, Ringelberg, Deputy Clerk Zoey Hallam and Public Information Coordinator Jim Hayden toured the composting facility Oct. 2.