Sarnia mayor wants sewage sludge storage site shut down
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Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley has now asked the province to shut down a waste transfer site in the border city’s south that has been the source of dozens of odour complaints in recent months.
Bradley sent a letter this week to the district manager of Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks about the site where Brantford-based Wessuc stores waste – mostly sewage biosolids also known as sludge – in former sewage lagoons the company bought from the city in 2020.
Wessuc stores the sludge in these Scott Road lagoons until it can be spread on farm fields as fertilizer.
“Since starting operations in the spring, the site has continually been a source of disgusting and nauseating odours for the citizens of Sarnia,” Bradley wrote in his letter.
During a late-June council meeting, Bradley warned the company that a request to close the site was the likely next step if odour complaints persisted.
While the company has tried a number of fixes, including an improved water “cap” to keep the stinky material from hitting the air and creating a stench, applied odour suppressants and consultations with odour specialists, “nothing seemed to have worked,” Bradley said.
“It was a clear message then,” the mayor said.
Bradley said he received more complaints about odours from residents across the city, particularly when a heat wave settled in during the middle of the week.
“It’s overwhelming for people,” he said.
In his letter, Bradley noted the Environment Ministry has the legal authority to shut down operations at the site while city council has its hands tied.
“I am imploring you to act quickly to shut down Wessuc until they resolve all the issues, so the people of Sarnia are no longer inflicted with this nauseating odour on a regular basis, particularly in the hot weather,” Bradley’s letter says.
Ministry spokesperson Gary Wheeler said in an email the ministry is taking the odour issue “very seriously.”
He said the site stopped receiving material in mid-June and the number of odour complaints has declined.
“The company is also developing an action plan to address odours and will increase air monitoring to assess community impacts as they work to resolve their operational challenges,” Wheeler said.
“The ministry continues to respond to the occasional odour complaint and will ensure the company takes the necessary action to address the concerns.”
Since the spring, both the city and the ministry have received numerous complaints about odours from the site. At the same late-June where Bradley issued his warning, Adrian Simpson, a Wessuc representative, outlined the steps the company was taking to get rid of the stink.
“We’re getting real close to what I think would be a solution, where we can present the neighbours with an odour-free backyard,” he said.
Bradley noted other municipalities have faced issues with odour complaints about sewage sludge being stored before it’s applied on farmland.
“I think the province needs to look at some control” of the practice, he said.
pmorden@postmedia.com
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