A few dozen Richmond residents have organized a public protest at Richmond City Hall Saturday afternoon (12 p.m.) to put pressure on elected officials to stop odours emanating from the Harvest Power compost facility.
“We need to show our elected officials our unhappiness at the stench in Richmond and raise awareness in our community as to the source of the terrible stench that has pervaded Richmond over the past four years,” said organizer and “Stop the Stink Richmond” Facebook group member Joanne Charity.
It’s “time to put a stop to this abomination that assaults our noses on a daily basis. Quality of life and property values are being affected! Stand up and be counted. Join us at noon on Saturday in front of city hall. No matter what they say, we, the taxpayers of Richmond, hold city hall responsible for our quality of life!” stated Charity.
There are now about 650 members of Stop the Stink Richmond.
Many residents have expressed frustration at politicians passing the buck and not taking responsibility for the odours that are believed to be impacting quality of life and exacerbating pre-existing health conditions, but are said to not be toxic or imminently dangerous in nature, according to Vancouver Coastal Health.
Harvest Power received millions of dollars of federal grants to start its business and leases federal land from the Port of Vancouver.
However, MP Joe Peschisolido has reiterated that “there’s no official role for the Government of Canada to play.”
Meanwhile, the provincial Minister of Environment grants licenses to regional governments to issue air quality permits.
“Air quality is the responsibility of the regional district known as Metro Vancouver,” Richmond-Steveston MLA John Yap told the News Monday.
“I know our city is making strong efforts to get enforcement happening.”
Meanwhile, Coun. Harold Steves and Mayor Malcolm Brodie represent Richmond on Metro Vancouver’s board of directors.
Presently, Metro Vancouver is enforcing a new air quality permit as of Jan. 1, but has not found grounds to close Harvest Power.
The City of Richmond claims Harvest Power has until the end of February to comply with its contract with the city.
