Steven Hill
shill@squamishchief.com
Residents living and working out by the municipal landfill have been voicing concern over talk about moving Carney's Organic Recycling business from the Industrial Park to a site adjacent to the landfill.
Andy Dittus, a homeowner near the landfill, said a five-acre site next to the landfill has been prepared with gravel for paving, and just recently discovered the site was intended for Carney's composting use.
My concern is the smell," he said. "From hearing what people in the Industrial Park have said, it is clearly a health issue."Dittus said he does not want the odour to impact his dwelling or any investment properties he owns nearby.
Mike McKinney from Sea to Sky Stables said if the organic recycling business were to move to the landfill site, he would be out of business.
"Our tenure is through there," he said. "No one is going to pay me to take a horse ride through that stench."
But John French, spokesman for Carney's, said the hope is to keep the composting business where it is in the Industrial Park. He said the paving activities at the landfill site were for a part of the compost curing process, and has been going on for some time."What is happening out there has been going on for more than a year," he said. "There is a large tract of land out on the Cheekeye that Carney's is using for compost curing.
"After it comes out of the composter it is driven out to the area," he said. "That material sits and processes for at least three months."
The five-acre area that is to be paved is the same area on which the curing process has been taking place, according to French."Up until now it has been sitting on raw earth," he said. "The area was supposed to have been paved before the winter weather set in, but the weather did not permit that paving to take place. So it is set to take place soon."
French said paving the site makes it easier and cleaner to cure the compost material.
"It prevents the product from going into the ground," he said.
Todd Kion, general manager of AJ Forest products, penned a letter to Mayor and Council in February, outlining his concerns about the curing process and the potential relocation of the entire organic recycling business to the landfill site.
Carney's Organic Recycling goes before a business licence hearing Tuesday (March 21) to address complaints from Industrial Park residents and business owners regarding offensive odours emanating from Carney's business. Up until now, Carney's Organic Recycling has been contravening a no-odour bylaw, and council must now decide which of three options it will impose on the business. These options include suspending the operation's business licence, or making the operation find a more suitable location.
Kion's letter to council clearly indicates concerns with moving the business to the landfill site, as well as the current curing activities.
"The same odour is now resonating from the landfill and temporary holding place for the organic waste that has been removed from the Industrial Park," the letter reads. "The smell is particularly strong on certain days, even now in winter."Isn't Carney's just moving the problem because of complaints in one area to another location where more complaints will be generated, without first attempting to solve the problem?"
But French said the hope is to keep the business in the Industrial Park. He said Carney's has been working to mitigate the long-standing odour problem in time for the hearing.
"For the last four weeks we have operated with a significant decrease in the odour," he said. "We have been working with neighbours and have shown them we have made improvements."
He said letters have been signed by some neighbours testifying to the fact that odours have been mitigated somewhat. The letters will be presented to council at the hearing, he said.
"We are hoping the DOS will allow the organic recycling process to continue in the business park because we have shown improvement and know we can improve it even more," said French. "We are hoping to be able to get the process to a point where the odour is not an issue in the business park. But, if they take away the business license then we have to look at moving the entire facility to the Cheekye. We will only move it out there if it is the last resort."
French admitted the curing process at the landfill site did indeed create an odour, and had received complaints.
"There is definitely odour generated from the curing process, and there are things we can do to mitigate the odour," he said. "One of the reasons we chose that site, and considered it appropriate was its proximity to the landfill, which also generates its own odours. But we will be working on the processes to take care of those odour issues as well."
A clearer picture of what will happen to Carney's Organic Recycling business will develop Tuesday (March 21) in council chambers.Carney's under fire at landfill
