Sound familiar?

The well-known saying is to believe bad actors when they show who they really are. It’s usually futile to make excuses for an ongoing problem or wait for it to change – particularly after nearly five reeking decades.

Those living near Spray-Tek’s Middlesex Borough complex are familiar with the foul industrial odors emitted by the company’s spray-drying operations. Turns out, it’s not a unique problem. Spray-Tek also has a Bethlehem, Pa. facility. The Keystone Staters who live in the vicinity are telling a recognizable story if you read their local press accounts.

Bethlehem residents have filed dozens of complaints against Spray-Tek’s facility for releasing noxious industrial odors into surrounding neighborhoods, according to a May 6, 2026 report by WFMZ-TV, an independent television station that covers that area. Here’s the report’s opening:

“People in one part of Bethlehem are speaking out about an unpleasant smell coming from a nearby factory. They say the odor has been an issue for years and they’re hoping for a permanent solution. People who live in West Bethlehem say they’re fed up with a strong, unpleasant smell coming from this local manufacturer.

“When they let it go, it lingers. It’s not 15 minutes and it’s gone, it’s here for eight hours,” says George Andrews, a resident who’s concerned about the smell.

Sound familiar? PA residents reported intense, recurring smells resembling maple syrup, popcorn, and parmesan cheese, which have caused headaches and spurred the complaints.

The Bethlehen site opened in 2002, so it’s not as long-running a problem as the Middlesex location. Blue Jays apparently aren’t the only ones being treated to Spray-Tek’s not-so-wonderful aromas. Seems like the PA dwellers are using a familiar playbook to seek relief – call their state’s environmental oversight agency and contact their State Representative Jeanne McNeill. 

They’re getting similar results to their Middlesex counterparts- that is, the horrendous odors continue. Spray-Tek owes the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection $16,000 in fines, according to WFMZ. The DEP has issued the familiar assurance to Bethlehem residents, noting that the smells are “not harmful.” Left unsaid is what it does to their quality of life.

“They need to step up and fix this permanently because it’s not fair and paying these fines is not doing anything,” Rep. McNeill said.

In early May, McNeill delved into Bethlehem’s Spray-Tek issues on her official Facebook page. She posted a letter she sent to Pennsylvania’s DEP and answers she had received to constituents’ questions. Those queries included: What actions may be taken against a company that continues to wrack-up malodor complaints?

The Pennsylvania DEP’s response amounts to a government bureaucratic blah-blah-blah similar to what suffering Middlesex residents have heard previously:

“Spray-Tek is obligated to comply with the department’s regulations. On Sept. 23, 2023, Spray-Tek and the department executed a Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty to resolve air quality violations documented in 2022 including malodors. Spray-Tek paid a civil penalty of $16,100. In addition, the department is currently working to resolve violations documented since 2022.”

“This resolution includes the installation of additional control. Once the current corrective action is in place, continued failure to comply with air quality regulations may subject Spray-Tek to additional enforcement action. The department will respond to complaints and take appropriate action to encourage compliance.”

Take note – the Pennsylvania DEP said it is “working” to resolve violations documented since 2022, That was four years ago. The agency will respond and “encourage” compliance. What about requiring it?

After nearly 50 years of offenses in Middlesex and a seemingly comparable problem in Bethlehem, isn’t it time to look for different approaches to Spray-Tek’s quality of life disturbances? Is it time to reach out to the federal government? The Pennsylvania complaints demonstrate that the issue stretches across state lines.

Perhaps it’s time to contact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The NJDEP has ineffectively dealt with Middlesex Borough’s problems over a nearly 50-year period. Recently, a Middlesex councilwoman spoke publicly of her phone call to the DEP, one in which an agency rep did not appear to take her concern seriously.

Maybe it’s appropriate to reach out to New Jersey’s two U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim. Middlesex’s all-Republican mayor and council might be reluctant to seek the assistance of the Garden State’s two Democratic senators, but partisan politics should not be a consideration.

Long-suffering Middlesex residents shouldn’t believe it’s hopeless to expect relief, although it’s understandable why they might have that view. Afterall, Spray-Tek has shown an ability to creatively work-around enforcement. A firm executive once deflected odor concerns by noting town fathers long ago allowed the business into Middlesex, so it’s too late to complain. Another exec was savvy enough 13 years ago to make a political donation to the state senator whose firm served as municipal attorney. It’s time, it seems, to escalate a thorny problem.

(Copyright 2026 Dave Polakiewicz. All Rights Reserved)

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