Metro Vancouver fields “overwhelming” number of Richmond waste complaints
Posted November 16, 2016 5:27 pm.
Last Updated November 29, 2016 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RICHMOND (NEWS1130) – As Harvest Power appeals the conditions of its new air quality contract, Metro Vancouver says they continue to be bombarded with complaints about the waste plant’s smell.
Environmental Regulation Manager Ray Robb says their department has received more than 1,800 smell complaints about Harvest Power.
“Which put us at more complaints against Harvest than we received last year for all sources,” Robb says, adding they have hired more staff to deal with the “overwhelming” amount of calls and are working with Vancouver Coastal Health.
Harvest Power was issued a new operating permit which lasts until 2020, and includes a 46 page document of requirements and stricter air quality rules such as limits on the distance the odours can be smelled from and the time it can linger. Penalties are not directly set out in the permit, but the plant could be told to stop taking in waste which would affect their income.
Robb says the company must do more to increase the amount of oxygen circulating within the piles of organic matter.
“Without oxygen there’s a greater chance for smelly things to be produced,” he says.
Solutions include reducing pile heights, getting air into materials before they are put on the pile and installing new air pipes under the pile.
Robb hopes another company will open its doors in Surrey next year and another in Ladner could help relieve some of the pressure on Harvest Power. However, Robb says municipalities who have contracts with Harvest may not be able to move to another plant for years.
