Open house for compost pad issues

Andrea Roberts
Times Intern

 

Bio-cycle, the new owners of the compost pad north of Strathmore, recently held an open house hoping to talk with residents living around the pad who have some issues with the smell and the expansion of the project.
“We have had some people who have raised some concerns with us and rather than chatting with them over the phone we wanted to come and meet them in person,” said Mark Grunert, vice president of operations at Bio-cycle.
“Listen to their concerns and let them know what the plans are for the future, which include you know some investment in technology, we added a local supervisor to the mix out there so we can better manage and monitor our compost pad as well as relationships around the area.”
The open house had about 50 people come out to voice their concerns, but the company thought it went quite well, and said they will try and fix the issues that the residents brought to the table.
Opal and Jim Seifert, who live near the pad brought one of the issues forward.
“For 18 years we have had this terrible smell that can come at any time usually on weekends,” said Opal Seifert.
“[On a] nice day you open your windows and get hit right in the face with that smell. It is depreciating our property values.”
This sentiment seemed to be the problem that many of the residents brought up during the evening according to Grunert.
The smell has been a big issue since the pad opened up but Bio-cycle, who took over the pad in the fall of 2015, is hoping to reduce the problem as well as the other issues brought up at the open house, with new technology.
In an effort to reduce the odour, Bio-cycle plan to use static aeration and improved operations at the business. They recently acquired some new machinery, which will help them process the material to get down to the bottom of the pad where they can install their aeration technology. The aeration will allow for constant airflow through the piles, which will help reduce the amount of turning that is required and will reduce the smell.
Some of the other issues that were brought up were the road traffic in the area, as well as the speed that the hauling trucks travelled and the amount of dust that comes off the road. Grunert stated communication with one of the companies that does hauling for them was established to address driving slower to increase safety and lower the dust. They will also be looking into dust control options for the neighbours who are being affected.
These changes along with the aeration technology should be in place by the end of summer when the group will hold another open house to see how their neighbours have been affected by the improvements.
The open house was held at the Travelodge on May 13.