They want to talk about odours — just not about that odour.
Metro Vancouver was to have held a meeting in Delta this week to discuss how to improve the way odour is managed in the region, but has rescheduled the gathering for next month over worries it would have been hijacked by a local odour issue that just won’t go away.
It seems curious to discuss odours in general when there’s one particular stench — and I’m referring to the one that emanates from the Enviro-Smart composting operation on 72nd Street in East Ladner — causing such angst, but maybe such an exercise is necessary because it doesn’t appear that regional government has enough tools in its tool box to effectively deal with such situations.
The fact we’re still talking about the stink in question is proof that those entrusted to ensure our air isn’t fouled don’t have the means by which to properly do their job.
Complaints started flooding in last summer, which prompted a pair of public meetings, one organized by a citizens’ group and the other by Metro Vancouver, to be held last fall. Enviro-Smart officials were at the latter where they told the crowd of about 200 they would take aggressive steps to address the odours.
We touched base with Metro Vancouver 10 weeks later to see what progress had been made, only to be told the company needed at least another 45 days to figure out a plan. It’s been 60 days since then and not only does Enviro-Smart not return calls, but now it’s difficult to get answers from Metro Vancouver.
The logical approach at the outset of all of this would have been to say to the company, “You’re contravening this, so you must do that,” but for whatever reason it doesn’t work that way. A Metro Vancouver official has called it a complicated process, which clearly it is, but it’s also one that doesn’t serve the public interest very well.
Some sort of resolution must be reached in the Enviro-Smart debacle before the weather warms, windows open and backyard patios start to bustle as residents shouldn’t have to endure another summer like last year. A look at the big picture is also necessary to ensure regulations are in place so this situation doesn’t repeat itself.
