I have stayed pretty quiet about all the complaining going on, not because I have anything to hide or have done anything wrong, but because I know that whatever is said on social media automatically becomes true to some people no matter what facts they are presented with.  I have just figured it is better to say nothing and try to ignore the worthless drama.

I always try to be respectful of other and portray a Christian attitude, but that is really being tested with the comments being made.  There is enough hate and discontent in this world; why do a number of you have to bring it into our community?  It is such a waste of time and energy.

A year ago, I put out a statement in a local paper, and I invited anyone to come out and I would explain what we do here.  Instead, you would rather make statements on social media that are not true.  Do you know how many people showed up to ask questions?  Two.

I have heard people say it smells too bad to visit.  There are days we have between 50-100 people stop here for business.  Some days it smells here, a lot of days it does not.  It is a poor excuse to not come by.  So, here are some statement that are not true.

1. I try to save money by not treating the waste water.

2. I don’t run the aerators enough.  (They have been called regeneration pumps, but I don’t know what those are.)

3. There was never a problem before I bought this business.

4. The smell is constant all year and covers the entire city.

5. The ponds are being overloaded.

6. I don’t care.

Here are true statements.

1. Since I bought this company, I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment and products to put into the water.

2. The aerators that were already on the lagoons were able only to be used when the temperature was above freezing.  In the past two and a half years, I have added two types of aerators that run underwater and can run all year.  I run them constantly.  The only time they might be shut off is if we are doing maintenance to them.

3. The previous owners had problems from time to time also, and it is documented.  They had to constantly work on it to keep it in balance too.

4. The smell is not constant and does not cover the entire city.  I will comment more on this later.  

5. While we do wash more trailers and use more water than the previous owners, we probably put the same or less of the actual product into the lagoons.  I have put tanks here on-site to catch a lot of our solids.  When we catch a certain amount, then they are hauled away for disposal.  The lagoons have been here for a number of years and have accumulated sludge over that time.  With the procedures I have put into place, it has stirred them up and is taking a while to get them balanced again.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of trial and error that we go through.

6. The statement that I don’t care is absurd.  This is constantly on my mind.  I have been seeking advice and purchasing products from five waste water experts along with contact with the EPA trying to find a good solution.  I am by no means an expert about waste water, but I am learning as I go.

Returning to the claims about the potency of the smell; I will not deny that there could be times when it can be noticed in town, in the spring and depending on the wind.  I can say for sure that a constant year-round smell is not coming from H&M.

I am in town every day and at all times of the day and night.  I have smelled it around the schools on the west side of town very few times in the four years that I have owned the business, and that is it.

I do business with multiple places around town, and their consensus is the same as mine.  I can say that I have been able to smell odors in town from other location around town and even as far away as Decatur at certain times.  The is effect of our way of life.  Without these places, which may cause an odor at times, we would not have the communities that we do have.  It is a way of life.

I would be pretty certain that any business owner would agree with me in saying that in no way do I want to be a nuisance to anyone with the work that I do.  If any of you legitimately feel that I have ruined any of your days, I apologize.  I will continue to work to solve this problem until it is resolved.

The problem is, I feel, that most of the complaints are no more than a domino effect from Facebook.  What is offensive to me, way more than any smell, is the way people can respond to a situation in such a negative way.  Other people watch us, and more importantly, our kids learn from us.  What kind of lesson is learned from name-calling and spreading hate?

Again, I extend an invitation to come talk to me instead of hiding behind a computer screen.  Believe it or not, we grill lunch outdoors four or five times a week here.

Come out, talk, have a hamburger.  I promise not to poison it.

Thank you,

Travis Hoffman

H&M Trucking