East Ladner residents are patiently waiting to have their voices heard as an Environmental Appeal Board hearing continues in Tsawwassen.
The hearing concerns an air quality permit issued last year to the contentious GFL/Enviro-Smart composting facility. It began at the Coast Tsawwassen Inn June 3 with opening statements to a three-member panel.
At the start of the hearing, it was indicated GFL would need four days to lay out its case, but that has now stretched into seven days of testimony and cross-examination by Metro Vancouver lawyer Greg Nash as well as the resident appellants.
GFL lawyer Gary Letcher has presented numerous witnesses, trying to prove to the board that the hundreds of complaints made by residents are not based on scientific evidence and that residents are not experts in determining whether foul odours were coming from GFL or farming operations in the area.
During his opening, Letcher told the board the permit was too restrictive, required too many records and reports that were costly for GFL, and that GFL should be recognized for its role in building a $37 million enclosed facility.
GFL director Brian King was under-cross examination on Tuesday when the Optimist was on hand for part of the afternoon session.
Nash took King to task for the way GFL has compiled its monitoring records, how the facility was operated when GFL acquired it, whether staff, including King, has the qualifications to operate a composting facility adequately and whether the company took odour problems seriously when resident complaints increased substantially between late 2017 and 2018.
King said he was aware of the increase in complaints, and they were of concern, but questioned the validity of some.
“There seemed to be an increase, but until the complaint is validated as us as the source, we considered those to be suspect,” said King. “With the amount of improvements we were doing, we were addressing the issues. I thought there were other factors at play. The numbers in my eyes don’t reflect what was actually going on.”
As the hearing is in progress, the residents are unable to make any public comments, but they are hopeful to begin their testimony either Thursday or Friday.
The residents believe the permit is inadequate and does not do enough to alleviate the smell that has impacted their health and quality of life for more than a decade.
The hearing is scheduled to continue June 17, 18 and 26 to 28. The proceedings run from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 4 p.m. daily and are open to the public.
