Richmond gives Harvest Power 30 days to remedy odour issues

An organic waste composting facility in Richmond has 30 days to fix its ongoing odour problems before the municipality says it will take further action.

The City of Richmond has issued a notice of default to Harvest Power "to remedy ongoing odour issues" which means that if the company does not address the problem at their facility in east Richmond, the city could terminate its service agreement with the company.

This move is the latest in an ongoing conflict that the city has had with the plant, which takes food scraps, yard trimmings and paper products from across the Lower Mainland and turns them into mulch, soil and compost.

Ongoing issue

"We are absolutely committed to eliminating the foul odours that have plagued Richmond and other communities," said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie in a news release.

"A number of actions aimed at addressing the issue have been taken as a result of our efforts, but ultimately the complaints are continuing. We will continue to use all avenues available to us until we achieve our objective."

The city acknowledges that it does not have the authority to directly impact Harvest Power's operations.

It is the provincial government that regulates air emissions, and the province has delegated this authority to Metro Vancouver as part of their management of solid waste and air emissions in the region.

Residents near to the facility have increasingly complained about the odour emitted from the plant, but the situation came to a head in September 2016 when Metro Vancouver renewed the facility'soperating permit for another three years, with new measures for odour control.

According to an update issued to residents by the city of Richmond, there have been approximately 24 appeals to Harvest Power's permit from residents "detrimentally affected by the excessive odours."

Harvest Power argues that Metro Vancouver has no jurisdiction to issue permits for its facility because the facility is on federal land, and that even if the region does have jurisdiction, the "sniff test" that is part of the permit conditionsis too vague and unscientific.

Harvest Power spokespersonStephen Bruyneelpreviously told CBC News that the company is not attempting to shirk responsibility, but said the companies wants "to make sure what we're held accountable for is scientific."

Thousands of complaints

A page on Metro Vancouver's website is dedicated to monitoring complaints about Harvest Power's Richmond plant, and shows that there were 2,402 complaints about the facility from September to December 2016, and 425 complaints in January this year.

At a public meeting organized by Harvest Power in November 2016, CEO Chris Kasper said the site at the time was "unacceptable".

"I am here to take responsibility for Harvest not being a good neighbour," Kasper told residents.

Starting Jan. 3 the city diverted some of its organic waste from Harvest Power to a different licensed facility.

However the bulk of the city's organic waste has to be handled by Harvest Power, according to the service agreement Richmond has with the company.