SARANAC LAKE — The village of Saranac Lake is planning to do an air quality study around the Alpine Agronomy cannabis cultivation facility on the corner of Broadway and Ampersand Avenue after neighbors of the plant reported smelling cannabis throughout the neighborhood and have concerns about the potential of emissions from the building causing health problems.

Bonnie Krasher and Jim Loso live across Ampersand Avenue from the cultivation plant and said the vents point toward their house.

Krasher doesn’t like the smell, but said it’s about more than a quality of life disruption — she’s more concerned about the potential of harmful “Volatile Organic Compounds” — also known as VOCs — being carried into their home. She believes the building is improperly ventilated and said any VOCs could exacerbate a terminal illness that Loso has.

“I’m more concerned that VOCs are pouring out of that building and hurting people for the rest of their lives,” she said.

Alpine Agronomy owner Chase Schuyler said the smell is something he’s concerned about, too. As he has tried different configurations of the ventilation system, it has caused the odor to spike, and he said that he is adding more equipment that he hopes will solve the problem. He also said the hemp and cannabis grown there go through extensive testing and said that they have not had issues with VOCs or mold in the crops there.

“We place a high priority on responsible operations and compliance with all applicable state and local standards, including those related to air quality and workplace safety,” Schuyler told the Enterprise.

Up until this summer, Schuyler had been growing hemp at the facility. He switched to cannabis after getting licensed several months ago.

“We are aware that a temporary odor was noticed by some members of the community. This was related to a short-term configuration we were testing on our industrial air-handling system,” Schuyler told the Enterprise. “As soon as we identified that the adjustment was producing an external odor, we promptly restored the original configuration and added additional filtration to ensure it does not recur.”

Alpine Agronomy’s application for a site variance and special use permit at the 8,000-square-foot former Movie Gallery store at 245 Broadway was approved by the village development board in 2023. Schuyler began cultivating hemp, the non-intoxicating cousin of marijuana. The state Office of Cannabis Management granted him a cannabis cultivation license this summer, and he began growing the plant which was legalized for recreational use in 2021.

Krasher brought the issue up at the village board meeting on Monday, and brought with her a petition she started last week, which has garnered 50 signatures as of Thursday evening. The petition can be read at tinyurl.com/5n88eka9.

The Ken Garwood POW Park and playground is right across the street from the growery, next to the Krashers’ house. The Saranac Lake Civic Center skating rink is less than half a mile down the road. The Dollar General store shares a building with Alpine Agronomy.

Mayor Jimmy Williams said the village is in the process of hiring Plattsburgh-based KAS Environmental Science and Engineering to do an air quality assessment at the park, the Krasher’s house and the Saranac Lake Civic Center.

Loso said the village code officer should close the facility until it’s fixed.

Krasher and Loso said the smell started in 2023. Back then, they spoke with the then-code enforcement officer, who talked with Schuyler. The couple said Schuyler apologized to them and told them he’d install medical-grade HEPA filters. Loso said this solved the smell for a bit. But then the smell came back “with a vengeance.”

The Adirondacks are supposed to have clean air, Krasher said.

“I’d rather smell Albany pollution,” she said.

She said neighbors have thought it was herself and Loso blazing because the smell is so thick in the area sometimes. Several people reported smelling it at the Civic Center. Krasher, Loso and their neighbors have called the police often about it. Krasher said she has allergic symptoms to the smell. Cannabis and hemp can cause allergic reactions in people, on a wide-ranging scale of severity.

Trustees Aurora White and Matt Scollin both confirmed they’ve smelled the odor in the area before.

Loso feels the facility is too close to the park and questioned why it was allowed. Cultivation plants have looser distance restrictions than something like a dispensary, which is not allowed within 500 feet of a school, place or worship or public park.

“I’m the one that’s dying from this,” Loso told the village board.

One year ago, Loso was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He said this is a terminal illness involving scarring of his lung tissue. Idiopathic means “of unknown cause.”

Krasher said Loso is not a smoker. She said they’re not saying the emissions from the building caused it, but their pulmonologist said they can’t rule it out.

“The pattern in his lungs has not been severe enough to causally relate it to the cannabis that we are exposed to 24/7,” she said.

In either case, their pulmonologist told them they shouldn’t live near the facility if they’re smelling its ventilation. Krasher said she owns her home, and she shouldn’t have to sell it because of this.

Krasher wants to hire a lawyer to handle this, but she cannot afford it. Loso is taking a newly approved medication that costs $16,000 a month. Donors are helping keep their costs down to $3,000 a month.

This type of lung scarring used to be referred to as “farmer’s lung,” which is caused by inhalation of molds on crops. This disease was common in the 1800s among people who were enslaved on farms. Krasher said no one cared then, because they were Black.

It’s similar to cannabiosis or myobiosis, which involve the inhalation of mold or VOCs in crops.

VOCs like terpenes, or aspergillus and penicillium mold can turn up in crops of hemp or cannabis.

Krasher said aspergillus and penicillium mold have both been detected in Loso’s blood. These molds are common both indoors and outdoors. The spores are breathed often, but can be harmful to people with chronic lung conditions.

“All products must pass rigorous third-party laboratory testing for mold, heavy metals, pesticides, terpenes, yeast and the presence of mold — including Aspergillus — mycotoxins, and solvents before they can be sold,” Schuyler said. “There have been no issues involving harmful VOCs or mold within our facility, and our production environment and operational practices are consistently maintained to meet required guidelines.”

Krasher and Loso said they’re frustrated that the village has not done much to rectify the situation so far. They pointed out that cannabis tax revenue makes money for the village. It’s taken in around $100,000 in tax dollars since Saranac Lake’s first dispensary opened two years ago, and at the Monday meeting the board unanimously approved the creation of a grant program funded by the cannabis tax.

Williams said he had not known about the potential health hazard aspect of the odor concerns, and that the village would act on it.