City Brewery is fined for smelly gas emissions, works on ways to reduce the pollution

Some familiar smells near La Crosse’s City Brewery could be reduced soon.

Members of La Crosse’s board of public works have approved a compliance order, calling on the company to make facility repairs and take other actions to lower the amount of hydrogen sulfide gas released into the air as part of the brewing process.

Matthew Sweet, the City Brewery plant manager, tells the board that a bio-reactor needs to be replaced.

“That wastewater facility is aging,” said Sweet at Monday’s board meeting, “so we’re really trying to look at replacing the entire facility, and really trying to look at the surrounding landowners, around the facility.” Sweet says the brewery wants to put in a new facility which would reduce the sulfide emissions.

For now, there could be changes made to the reactor. “They worked to come up with some plans to put a new cover or roof on the reactor,” says city wastewater treatment superintendent Jared Greeno . “They put a temporary cover on it, which I believe helped for a while, but now it’s really time for that cover to be replaced. We need to keep those odors inside that treatment plant, so their odor-control chemicals can work.”

The brewery had been ordered to reduce the emissions by the start of 2021, three years ago. Meanwhile, the board has voted to fine the brewery at least $100 a day until proper action is taken to eliminate odors from the reactor.