Bad smells continue to waft into the daily lives of those living around the $775-million McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greater Victoria, despite the projectsa国际传媒檚 promise to not cause noticeable odours beyond its property.
sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 think the community has much confidence left in terms of the plant ever being odourless and this is what we were promised when they were allowed to build it,sa国际传媒� said Rozlynne Mitchell, who lives nearby and chairs the West Bay Residents Association.
Her group continues to hear about the unpleasant smells sa国际传媒� which arose after the plant started up a few years ago sa国际传媒� from those living near the harbour, fishers and boaters.
There were 101 official complaints in 2022 and about 20 related to the sewage treatment site so far in 2023 (as of mid-June). The Capital Regional District said the 2023 figure is down, but the summer season lends to increased complaints as more people open their windows.
sa国际传媒淲e keep this in mind all the time that just because theresa国际传媒檚 no complaint doesnsa国际传媒檛 mean theresa国际传媒檚 no odour, and staff are working to reduce both,sa国际传媒� staff said at a core area liquid waste management committee meeting last month.
The CRD told Black Press Media it continues to optimize the plantsa国际传媒檚 odour control systems to minimize the impact on the community.
Mitchell said the CRD has asked people to keep a log of when the odours arise. But with people already fed up with odours they were told theysa国际传媒檇 never have to deal with, Mitchell said the public shouldnsa国际传媒檛 be the ones flagging that the smells are present.
sa国际传媒淯nfortunately itsa国际传媒檚 the responsibility of the community to complain before non-compliance of odour levels is investigated,sa国际传媒� she said, adding it bothers her and others that the CRD appears to be basing odour monitoring on citizen complaints.
The West Bay residents want the CRD to set up monitors at designated spots in the community that would detect when odours exceed noticeable levels. They also hope a communication system could notify them when those issues arise.
The CRD told Black Press Media it regularly monitors odour, but did not address the West Bay associationsa国际传媒檚 requests. The complaints itsa国际传媒檚 received over the last two years have been logged and mapped to analyze trends based on location, time and maintenance activities, according to a CRD spokesperson.
Several capital projects dedicated to reducing and controlling odours originating from the plant are ongoing, the CRD added, and all the money allocated to odour improvements is part of the facilitysa国际传媒檚 original budget.
Noting the McLoughlin site was to be built with odour-reducing technology sa国际传媒� which the CRD says has been fully functional since last September sa国际传媒� Mitchell said the CRD should know when its plant isnsa国际传媒檛 performing as itsa国际传媒檚 supposed to.
sa国际传媒淚 wouldsa国际传媒檝e thought that would be a requirement of a huge sewage treatment plant in the middle of a city, that they would be required to be monitoring the odour levels and the impact on the community and would be reporting out when it surpasses the contracted levels.sa国际传媒�
Her association is still puzzled by the regional governmentsa国际传媒檚 decision to pay out the plantsa国际传媒檚 builders when project agreements said that wouldnsa国际传媒檛 happen until odour issues were resolved.
sa国际传媒淪o now the work to investigate and alleviate the odour issues falls to the CRD,sa国际传媒� Mitchell said. sa国际传媒淭hat leaves all the community members of the CRD responsible for not just odour, but any other issues from the plant.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚 hope the CRD will get the odour issues under control but Isa国际传媒檓 not holding my breath.sa国际传媒�
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