Residents east of the Hermiston Airport who object to an expanded wastewater irrigation project have a formal opportunity to comment.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a request for comments on Hermiston Foods’ permit modification. The vegetable-processing plant south of Hermiston along U.S. Highway 395 has applied to modify its water pollution control facilities permit. It intends to move its wastewater storage and land application activities to the Chowning and Koester farms, which it purchased.

Written comments are due by 5 p.m. Feb. 12.

Hermiston Foods, which employs 50 year-round and 250 seasonally, was forced to find a new pond and irrigation site because the land’s owner declined to renew the company’s 20-year lease. It expired Dec. 31.

About 35 neighbors of the irrigation project say the company’s pond, just north of Feedville Road, stinks. And when the company sprays the stinky water on 250 acres of cropland, it spreads the offensive odor even more.

The residents also worry about the increasing level of nitrates in their domestic water as Hermiston Foods is preparing a larger pond and wastewater irrigation closer to their homes.

Plant manager Roy Stephen said Hermiston Foods plans to address the neighbors’ concerns. One is the 10-million-gallon reservoir, which will be almost three times the size of the pond it has been using. The larger pond would allow mixing vegetable processing water with irrigation water before it’s applied to the land. A second is the larger area to be irrigated, 476 acres, up from 250.

Copies of the draft permit are available at the DEQ office in Pendleton. For a review appointment, call Jackie Ray, 541-278-4605.

Written comments should be submitted to Ray, the permit coordinator, 700 S.E. Emigrant Ave., Suite 330, Pendleton, OR 97801.