Remember those foul fermenting stenches that wafted across Richmond last summer, depending on which way the wind was blowing?
Thankfully, that wont happen again at least not from the same source as last year, Harvest Powers relatively new composting facility in East Richmond, near No. 7 and Blundell roads.
Harvest Power have sorted it out and admitted to city council on Wednesday that the technology needed to contain the stink an anaerobic digester, called an energy garden came online a year later than planned.
That part of the facility was supposed to be ready last summer, said Harvest Powers CEO, Paul Sellew.
We thought we had it all figured out (last year), but we were a little late in getting it going and we overburdened the composting system.
Since the digester finally kicked in around the end of last year, there have been no odour complaints to the city or Metro Vancouver, the latter of which deals with air quality in the region and had fielded scores of residents concerns last summer.
The odours are now contained and destroyed in the digester, added Sellew.
Richmond last summer paid the price for the success of the entire Lower Mainland's food waste recycling programs, which were pouring into Harvest Powers facility in the east of the city.
Metro Vancouver had to step in to force the company to take temporary measures to deal with the stench.
In a bid to engage the community, locally and beyond, Harvest Power have opened a new visitor's centre, which shows off how the collection and digestion of the waste works.
The facility is also at the forefront of green energy, producing electricity from biogas.
