County orders company to halt production of asphalt because of foul odor

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality has told a construction company to cease asphalt production at a south-side plant because of complaints of foul odors.

PDEQ issued the Order of Abatement to Granite Construction regarding the Swan Road Plant at 9301 S. Swan Road.

Hundreds of KOLD News 13 viewers contacted us about the odor on Thursday. PDEQ, Southwest Gas, 911 and Poison Control also received multiple calls reporting the odor, according to a news release from the county. Several schools in the area in two school districts were temporarily evacuated.

As KOLD News 13 reported Thursday, the smell is a result of the production of rubberized asphalt.

READ: Foul smell on Tucson's south side rubberized asphalt, not gas

A spokesman for Granite Construction said the odor is neither toxic nor dangerous in any way.

PDEQ told Granite to stop production of the asphalt until the cause of the odor can be mitigated.

Michael Graham, the Tucson Department of Transportation public information officer, said this will not affect city paving projects.

He said contractors will have to go to other asphalt companies to get the product, if they can't get it from Granite Construction, which has other plants in the Tucson area.