For months, families living near a former animal-feed manufacturing plant in suburban Illinois said overwhelming smells were functionally trapping them indoors.
State regulators have now secured $185,000 in civil penalties from the company, following more than 1,000 complaints describing the odors as "nauseating," according to Journal & Topics.
What happened?
A lawsuit over odors and noise problems at Prestige Feed Products LLC's former Mount Prospect manufacturing facility has been resolved through a consent decree, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said on Friday, July 31.
More than 150 residents in Mount Prospect and Des Plaines filed over 1,000 complaints about odors from the plant between June 2023 and the end of operations, Journal & Topics reported.
During that period, Prestige used on-site equipment to dry and convert raw soy and cheese-based materials into ingredients for animal feed.
Prestige permanently closed the Kensington Business Center facility in December 2025.
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Earlier this year, the company also agreed to a $900,000 class-action settlement with affected residents.
That sum was separate from the consent decree entered July 31, which requires Prestige to pay $185,000.
Why does it matter?
Raoul emphasized that the state considered the disruption unacceptable.
"Residents in the community surrounding Prestige should be able to enjoy their lives and homes without having to endure the foul odors coming from the company's operations," he said.
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The plant's operations reportedly altered how people used their homes, yards, and neighborhoods.
Residents explained that the facility's lingering smell forced them to keep their windows closed and to stay out of their yards.
Nearby schools, along with a daycare and a preschool, also kept children indoors when the odors were severe.
What's being done?
This legal action stemmed from a referral by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Repeated complaints helped establish the scale of the impact, and enforcement followed.
Illinois EPA Director James Jennings addressed the lawsuit's outcome and suggested other companies might think twice before allowing their facilities to disrupt communities and residents' day-to-day lives.
"This consent order imposes significant civil penalties to deter this company and others like it from violating Illinois law and brings this case to a close," Jennings remarked.
"I will continue to protect all Illinois communities and hold companies accountable when violations of our environmental laws occur," Raoul added.
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