No end in sight for Bio-Can issues

Miriam Ostermann, Times Associate Editor

The dust isn’t settling soon, at least not in Nightingale, where frustration and anger mushroomed on Tuesday over the lack of actions and transparency, leaving Wheatland County residents alarmed about their health, property values, and water tables, and local politicians with their hands tied regarding issues surrounding the Bio-Can GFL composting facility.
The Nightingale community is furious about the inactivity over the past three months to address a foul-smelling, lingering odour, large amounts of garbage creeping into neighbouring lands, dust covering the outside and insides of homes, gallon-sized containers of flies, and the absence of on-site testing by a third party – issues the community has been facing for years.
Residents have complained of burning eyes, respiratory issues, convulsions and headaches, and even faced the diagnosis of a younger resident’s lumps as sulphur poisoning, and want the site shut down. Thus far, Wheatland County requests to go on-site the Calgary-based facility – which houses 11,000 tonnes of drywall, 9,500 tonnes of sulphur-amended compost, and 2,800 tonnes of compost material – to measure content and take water samples has been denied. However, the county was told the site was safe.
The situation has grown dire over the past five years for Dennis Kiemeny, president of Neighbors Against Pollution 2017 (NAP), whose grandkids were unable to play outside due to the smell on a number of occasions.
“We shouldn’t have to be held hostage in our homes because they don’t process their compost properly,” he said.
“It’s bothersome how I can get this shoved down my throat and yet I can’t do anything to stop it. They’ve sold them on the idea, we just put a little sulphur in, it’s an additive and we’re just going to put a little drywall … that’s not composting. It’s a game of cat and mouse and they have the biggest cat right now and us little mice are scattered all over the place trying to fight back and we’re having a hard time.”
Kiemeny and his wife were among approximately 40 community members who showed up to the July 18 Wheatland County regular council meeting where questions surrounding water testing and the distribution of an emergency response plan were met with evasive responses by Bio-Can Ltd.’s Mark Grunert.
When council pressed the issue of water testing, Grunert repeatedly stated that the Alberta Environment submissions on how to test those samples is very complex.
“I’m sitting here biting my tongue like you would not believe,” said Councillor Ben Armstrong. “You’re waiting for someone’s permission to do something I can do in 20 minutes. You don’t need Alberta Environment’s permission to do that, to go and test your own water.”
Council also inquired about the emergency response plan, which was revealed at the meeting had not been vetted by Wheatland County staff, was available internally on the Bio-Can Ltd. site, was shared with their own safety personnel, but had not been distributed among Nightingale landowners – a serious concern for many residents after a fire occurred at the facility on June 5. Reeve Glenn Koester strongly urged for the report to be shared with the residents moving forward. Yet residents wonder why an emergency response plan is needed when the site is said to be safe.
“If you’re talking about being in industry best practice you best broaden your view, because I know I’ve worked for oil and gas companies, with developed emergency response plans and they engage the public in development of those,” said Nightingale resident Albert Lees. “You guys aren’t. You’re hiding under a code of practice under Alberta Environment and you’re a fly-by-night operation that needs to be shut down in this county. We have to live with this. You live somewhere else. Get out of our county.”
According to Wheatland County, no development permit is in place, leaving the county powerless to take action. Reeve Glenn Koester said one option is to get legal opinion on building a case of a change-in-use, and for residents to continue contacting government officials and Alberta Environment – correspondence which has thus far received no response.
Landowners said the site contains piles of sulphur exceeding its legal limit of 100 tonnes by nearly 100 times, as well as crushed drywall. John and Madonna Kalbhen, who live a three-quarter mile from the site, have been battling continuous Gyproc on their land which they’ve had to mix in with their dirt, tons of garbage, and a smell that lingers in their house for days.
Bio-Can’s website describes the facility as a cutting-edge nutrient recycling facility that diverts organic materials away from landfills and are then processed into sulphur amended compost. According to NAP, one of Bio-Can Ltd.’s end products contains 70 per cent sulphur and 30 per cent compost.
Aerial photos shared at a NAP meeting with the Nightingale community on June 27, showed the facility has outgrown its footprint. During the meeting, residents also showed concern regarding garbage that ended up in their fields and has attracted seagulls that ultimately affected their crops. Sulphur on the premises also posed a concern, as fires caused by sulphur are hard to extinguish as the presence of oxygen serves to fuel the fire. As the site is located roughly 10 km northwest of Strathmore, town council has spent $6,000 to monitor the air quality to gather some factual data. Data has been collected since July 5, including wind direction. Currently the town is looking mainly at any data related to Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and sulphur dioxide (SO2).
“The reason we are doing the monitoring is to provide us with information so we’re not working in a fog and being able to address any issues or concerns that may come up from the resident that right now without any data could be speculative and unfounded,” said Strathmore Fire Chief Trent West. “We’re gathering data and monitoring the air for the safety of the Strathmore residents. Not that we don’t care about the safety of the county residents but the county has to be responsible for collecting their data and addressing any safety concerns that may arise directly for their residents.”
West assured that Strathmore will share their data and that Strathmore has the equipment to smother a sulphur fire incident. Wheatland County is also monitoring the air quality in the area. The fire chief added he visited the site and said the company was working on reducing the piles at the time, and had an intricate monitoring trailer and infrared security trailer on site.
Under Alberta Environment, Class 1 composting facilities are facilities accepting more than 20,000 tonnes of feedstock per year. They are classified as accepting no hazardous organic waste, such as food waste, bio-solids, and source-separated organics.
Wheatland County council agreed to send a letter to the minister of environment on behalf the residents, speak with their lawyers, and set up a meeting in Nightingale in the near future.
At the July 18 meeting, residents did receive some updates on Bio-Can Ltd., which was taken over by Green for Life (GFL), efforts on dust control and a detailed landscaping plan. Councillor Alice Booth also inquired about oxygen levels in the composting piles and the garbage where county staff replied they had several conversations with GFL. However, Nightingale residents said it’s not enough and that the issues that were of most importance –third party testing of asbestos and lead paint, quantity measurements and pile samples, ground and surface water testing, and written proof from Wheatland County, Alberta Environment and Parks, and GLF that the site is safe – are being dismissed.
“I’m going to keep pushing, I’m not going to stop,” said Kiemeny. “We should not have to live like this in this country. That is not right.”