BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has issued a demand for $5,000 in stipulated penalties to Nasoya Foods USA, LLC in the Town of Ayer following multiple noxious odor events that occurred between January 2021 and March 2021. This is the sixth penalty-demand letter MassDEP has issued to the company for causing conditions of air pollution by the release of odorous sulfur compounds from its tofu manufacturing plant located at 1 New England Way in Ayer, MA.

Under a 2017 consent order with MassDEP, Nasoya Foods USA was assessed a $27,360 penalty for odor violations. The company also had to make improvements to the air pollution control system, submit a long-range plan for odor control, and establish a third-party odor complaint hotline with an independent odor consultant to investigate complaints. Since then, the company has installed additional air pollution control equipment to further control odorous emissions. However, the facility continues to emit off-site odors that were confirmed by the company’s on-call odor consultant or the local board of health. As a result of the continued violations in recent years, MassDEP has issued penalty demands for a total of $30,000.

“Despite Nasoya’s attempts to control off-site odors, the company has repeatedly failed to operate its facility without creating nuisance odors for the community,” said Mary Jude Pigsley, director of MassDEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester. “MassDEP is requiring the company to take further actions in order to operate without creating a condition of air pollution.”

MassDEP’s mission is to protect and enhance the Commonwealth’s natural resources – air, water and land – to provide for the health, safety and welfare of all people, and a clean and safe environment for future generations. In carrying out this mission, MassDEP commits to address and advance environmental justice and equity for all people of the Commonwealth, provide meaningful, inclusive opportunities for people to participate in agency decisions that affect their lives, and ensure a diverse workforce that reflects the communities served by the agency.

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