‘Fugitive Emissions’: Jacksonville Fragrance, Flavor Maker Hit with Lawsuit Claiming Chemical Odors Invade Surrounding Areas

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The chemical fragrance and flavor manufacturing plant owned and operated by International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) and IFF Chemical Holdings is at the center of a proposed class action lawsuit.

The 19-page complaint alleges the defendants, through their operation and maintenance of the Jacksonville, Florida facility, have released and continue to release “substantial and unreasonably noxious odors” into the surrounding area. According to the lawsuit, the “sickly sweet, turpentine smell” emitted into nearby Duval County neighborhoods is the result of the defendants’ failure to adequately collect, capture and destroy the noxious odors generated by the plant before the “fugitive emissions” can invade surrounding homes and property. 

“According to [one plaintiff], the odors from IFF make it impossible for her and her neighbors to enjoy their yards because the smell is so strong it causes physical reactions,” the lawsuit, filed by three Jacksonville residents, reads. “Sometimes, it is so intense that it permeates into her home even with all doors and windows closed. [The plaintiff] describes the odor as a sharp, chemical odor.” 

International Flavors & Fragrances makes and supplies flavors and fragrances used in food, beverage, personal care and household products, the suit begins. The company’s three operating segments consist of “taste,” “Frutarom” and “scent,” with each division focused, respectively, on flavor compounds sold to the food and beverage industry; natural-focused flavor compounds, functional foods and specialty fine ingredients; and the manufacture of fragrance ingredients for use in perfumes, detergent and other household goods. 

According to the lawsuit, the defendants’ Jacksonville operations involve the use of crude sulfate turpentine refining, the process for which involves distilling crude sulfate turpentine into intermediate terpene fractions and aroma chemical precursors. The distilling process, the case says, involves the removal of “foul-smelling sulfur compounds” from the crude sulfate turpentine, with the overall operations requiring a kraft wood pulping process that separates cellulose fibers used to manufacture paper. The end result of the process is a raw material that can be used for the production of flavors and fragrances, the complaint relays.

The effect of the defendants’ manufacturing processes on the residential neighborhoods that surround the plant has been harmful as the noxious odors stemming from the operation have invaded residents’ homes and properties, the case says. Whereas a properly constructed manufacturing facility would be able to collect, capture and destroy noxious odors to prevent them from escaping into the ambient air as “fugitive emissions,” the lawsuit alleges the defendants’ facility falls well short of that capability:

“Plaintiffs’ property has been and continues to be physically invaded by noxious odors which originated from the Facility. 

Objectionable odors and emissions from the Facility have been the subject of frequent complaints from residents in the nearby residential area.  

Local media reports have documented that the odors from the Facility interfere with public and private activities, in both public and private spaces, in the areas surrounding the Facility including jogging, biking, sports, hiking, taking children to the park, maintaining residential property, landscaping, and grilling.” 

The lawsuit goes on to state that there exists a well-documented pattern of the defendants’ failure to control emissions from their Jacksonville manufacturing plant. Per the suit, the City of Jacksonville Environmental Quality Division received between 2018 and July 31, 2019 more than 100 odor complaints linked to the facility. In October 2020, Jacksonville officials hosted a virtual town hall to address the toxic smell emanating from the plant, and encouraged residents to file a complaint “each and every time they smell an odor” coming from the facility, the case says. 

On December 11, 2020, the Jacksonville Environmental Quality Division issued to the defendants a cease-and-desist citation for violations of Florida law, the lawsuit says. 

According to the suit, the damages caused by the emissions are extensive. 

“The foul odors emitted from Defendants’ Facility are offensive to Plaintiffs and the Class, are offensive to reasonable people of ordinary health and sensibilities, and have caused property damage, including by substantially interfering with the ability of Plaintiffs and the Class to freely use and enjoy their homes and property,” the complaint scathes. “The odors have dispersed across all public and private land within the Class Area.”  

The lawsuit looks to represent: 

“All owner/occupants and renters of residential property residing within the area enclosed by a geographic boundary consisting of: Bounded by the facility’s property line to the north, I-295 to the east, the railroad tracks to the west; and extending five miles south beyond the facility’s southern property line.”

A map of the proposed class area can be found below.

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