JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A class action suit against the International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) facility in Murray Hill is in full swing after a judge granted permission for it to move forward on Tuesday.
Thousands of residents had complained for years about unpleasant odors in the neighborhood, pushing residents Jenny Wright, Natalie Soud and James Cobb to take action against the chemical plant that produces flavors, fragrances and cosmetic actives on Lane Avenue.
Recommended Videos
The suit would represent more than 6,000 residents who said the smell of the Westside facility was ruining their quality of life and impacting property values.
Neighbors have described the smell as something similar to an intense Pine-Sol scent or crude sulfate turpentine.
RELATED: ‘Not a healthy smell’: Community meeting in the works between state, neighbors for Murray Hill odor
“We filed this lawsuit because our community needs help dealing with these odors and all of our efforts otherwise were not getting results,” Wright said in a news release. “I did this for my entire community. Something needs to be done so that we don’t all have to live with these disgusting and vile odors.
In November, Judge Robert M. Dees heard arguments from the residents’ lawyers, who said that thousands of residents were affected by the alleged odors because “IFF failed to employ reasonable odor control strategies.”
In the past, the facility said it complied with environmental rules and investigated complaints, but those efforts were not enough for residents.
Dees’ Order gave the parties 30 days to agree on a Class Certification Notice to be sent to class members, informing them of their rights and the options available going forward. The residents’ attorneys must now prove that IFF failed to implement adequate odor-control measures and that it is, in fact, the source of the odors.
Neighbors first sued the IFF plant in 2021, but that case was thrown out because the judge said it didn’t belong in federal court—not because of the claims themselves.