Off of County Road 214, residents of the Morgan’s Cove neighborhood are suffering from an unbearable stench – poop.
The neighborhood sits just two miles away from Indianhead Biomass Services, a composting and biosolid processing plant that is the source of the strong odor that has disrupted their daily lives.
Residents of Morgan’s Cove and surrounding areas have become increasingly vocal, drawing the attention of renowned environmental advocate Erin Brockovich, who was played by Julia Roberts in a 2000 film on her life.
In a blog post shared to her website, Brockovich said she has received a large number of emails from locals concerned about the plant’s operations and asking for help addressing the odor.
“These kinds of emails are heartbreaking and frustrating,” Brockovich wrote. “Who are people supposed to call when their neighborhood suddenly stinks?”
Frustrated residents have launched the website, Stop the Stink St. Augustine, and the Facebook group, Stop the Stink – Indianhead, to organize and share updates.
One resident said he contacted county officials, only to be told that St. Johns County “does not have jurisdiction over airborne odors.”
In response to the community backlash, Indianhead spokesperson Heather Lane Neville, AICP, told The Citizen the company is being unfairly vilified for performing what she describes as a fully legal and environmentally vital function.
St. Johns County contracts Indianhead to take in and continue to process all of its yard waste and biosolids—human waste that has been treated and converted into nutrient-rich material by municipal and county treatment plants.
Neville said Indianhead then combines the biosolids with yard debris to produce compost, which is sold as fertilizer.
That process, she said, can generate odors.
“We have been doing this for six years,” Neville said. “Before there were homes here. It’s completely legal, and it provides a service to the community. All of this waste has to go somewhere.”
Brockovich noted in her piece that some states have sought bans on biosolids being used as fertilizer because of potential groundwater pollution “from toxic chemicals in the wastewater.”
The first Morgan’s Cove residents moved in in June 2022, according to stopthestinkstaugustine.com.
County Commissioner Ann Taylor told The Citizen that the challenge goes beyond addressing the smell—it lies in navigating the jurisdictional gray area surrounding Indianhead’s operations.
This fragmented regulatory structure has made it difficult to determine who is responsible for monitoring and regulating the problem, as residents continue to grapple with the noxious odors.
“We are certainly going to do whatever we can,” Taylor said, “because the bottom line is the residents live in our county and their quality of life is being affected.”
Residents say the issue has existed since Indianhead began composting at its facility in 2018, but they believe the odor has recently grown stronger and more diffuse.
News4Jax reported that a letter from the county dated April 11 outlined several recent violations at the site, including unauthorized waste handling, fire hazards, extended operating hours and waste piles exceeding permitted height limits. Those breaches have intensified neighbors’ concerns about oversight.
Neville acknowledged the violations but said they were largely administrative and have since been addressed.
Between January 2023 and February 2025, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection received more than 700 complaints from Morgan’s Cove residents alone, according to an analysis by The St. Johns Citizen.
One complaint, filed on November 18, 2024, by resident Damien Rainey, led to an FDEP site visit four days later. Inspectors reported that “no odors were detected” during the visit and closed the complaint with no further action.
Residents say Indianhead representatives dismissed their complaints as “subjective” and asserted that they don’t monitor odors.
Brokovich criticized that response in her blog, writing: “You can’t deny people’s senses. It’s such a punch in the face to people who are already suffering. You can’t leave people in the dark and tell them what they smell isn’t real.”
In an April 28 blog post on the company’s website, Neville stated that the site is monitored by multiple regulatory agencies, including for odor control.
“When community members reach out to their elected officials and their regulatory agencies, those tasked with helping them need to listen and work with them to create change,” Brokovich wrote. “It’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about public health and safety.”
Neville said Indianhead is working to find a solution that works for all parties, including lowering compost pile heights and using additional wood chips to help suppress odors. She said company reps recently met with county commissioners, and progress has been made.
“We see you, we hear you,” she said. “But what we are doing is a good thing, a productive thing. What we have to figure out as a community is what to do next because things have changed. We have neighbors on top of us now.”
With some residents demanding that Indianhead cease its biosolid treatments outright and the company asserting its right to do business, the controversy shows no signs of abating.
6 Responses
The St. Johns County SR 16 Wastewater Treatment Facility dumps their affluent over fill into the swamp. When it happens you can smell it. Also, local government heath dept. went out to Indianhead site several times and found out it was not the source of the smell.
Charles A Kohler, the FDEP and county commissioners have also been on the site and said it is the source of the smell. The fire Marshall was the one to write them up for a handful of more recent violations only after there was a fire there with debri flying into neighbors yards… It is very clear where the odor is coming from unless you’re out there a day when it doesn’t smell
The Department of Environmental Protection has identified Indianhead as the source of the odor.
That’s a lie!!!! They have confirmed the smell and toxic waste IS coming from Indianhead Biowaste!!!!
Just wait 3 to 5 years when they built out the area around Tillman ridge which they’re obviously clearing to do, then the people of the new homes will be complaining about the methane and swamp gas smells.
40 to 45 years ago. The stuff they dumped out there at Tillman nobody knows.
Heather Neville, You said you’ve been doing this for 6 years before houses were here, another lie from Indianhead, there was a protest from Prairie Lakes homes that were here before you started your poop processing and let’s also take into account the locals that have been here for 20 years or more and the beautiful custom homes you have ruined!