A healthcare facility’s backup generator ignites neighbor dispute over its exhaust

WASHINGTON, Utah — Once a week, like clockwork, a generator fires up right behind Bill and Sandy Certonio’s Washington City home. They say it’s loud. But that’s not the worst part.

“It’s a terrible, toxic smell,” Sandy Certonio said.

Bill Certonio said the fumes drifting from the generator installed just yards away in a neighboring lot are impacting his health.

“It affects my respiratory system,” he said. “I have congestive heart failure.”

The generator belongs to Vista Healthcare, which moved in next door. As a medical facility, they are required to have an emergency generator. Furthermore, they’re required to run weekly tests.

But the Certonios have protested, arguing there’s no reason to place the generator right up against their property line.

“All they keep saying is that they’re in compliance,” Bill Certonio said.

Although the weekly tests only last about 15 minutes, the couple worries about an extended power outage that could keep the generator on for hours, even days.

“Our real concern is what if it comes on more than once per week,” Bill Certonio said. “Like they have to use it for their ER or whatever.”

Frustrated, the Certonios decided to Get Gephardt to investigate.

The legality of the generator

KSL took the complaint to Utah’s Division of Environmental Quality, which regulates pollutants like those emitted by diesel-powered generators.

Division director Bryce Bird said even though they have never tested the generator installed behind the Certonios home, watching video of the machine starting with a black plume of smoke didn’t exactly set off alarm bells.

“So actually, it looks to me like it would be okay,” Bird said while watching the video.

Indeed, the generator doesn’t break any air quality rules. And even though it was placed just a few yards off the Certonios property line, it’s not breaking any municipal ordinances, according to Washington City councilman Kurt Ivie.

Regardless of the law, Ivie believes Vista Healthcare should never have installed the generator where it did.

“This is a story that goes way beyond whether this generator meets all the standards,” Ivie said.

Still, he said he was powerless to help even though he believed the generator’s exhaust was life-threatening to his constituent, Bill Certonio.

“This isn’t just a neighborhood complaint saying, ‘Hey, you’re bothering me!’” said Ivie. “This gentleman has congestive heart failure.”

Vista Healthcare responses

For their part, Vista Healthcare’s Dr. Jon Obray and CEO Dan Payne emphasized that as a healthcare facility, they are required to have the generator. A clinic cannot lose power in the middle of a surgery.

“We have worked hard to be as reasonable as possible. It costs us money,” Obray insisted. “I’d just as soon have the thing gone but I know that’s not going to be a good thing if we ever do need it.”

Obray and Payne showed on Google Maps how they thought the wall and trees between the properties would buffer the impact of the generator’s operation.

“We thought this was the place that would be least intrusive,” Payne said.

Relocating it now would break the bank.

“There is not a way to move it without substantial costs,” Obray said.

But a question remained: What if the power goes out for hours or days and the generator must kick on for more than the weekly 15-minute tests?

“If that scenario happens, I think the community is going to be so happy to have a facility that’s capable of meeting critical health needs that the exhaust will be a secondary concern,” Obray said.

“I would like to see them move it to a better location,” Sandy Certonio responded.

At this point, Vista Healthcare said that would not happen. However, they have moved the timing of the weekly tests to coincide with when Sandy and Bill are at church.

Vista Healthcare’s managers said that in all their years in the healthcare industry, they have never had a situation where a generator had to run for an extended period. They also do not think the exhaust is a health concern for people while they’re inside their homes.