Come January, the City of Richmond will begin diverting organic waste it collects at townhouses and condos away from Harvest Power’s beleaguered waste-to-energy composting facility in east Richmond.
The announcement was made Monday evening by Mayor Malcolm Brodie.
The waste will go to a new, yet-to-be-named composter.
The city’s move is in line with a recent recommendation by Metro Vancouver to immediately divert organic waste being sent to the Harvest Power from the North Shore Transfer Station.
Both government bodies claim they are also going to review best practices of composting facilities while simultaneously demanding Harvest Power improve its facility and control its emissions within 90 days. Should it not, Metro Vancouver claims the company will be in default of its contract.
The move to divert organic waste away from Harvest Power comes amidst a series of other measures taken by the city and Metro Vancouver to mitigate Harvest’s odours.
Brodie also announced that the city will be spending upwards of $150,000 to fund additional compliance, monitoring and independent research. That’s in addition to $18,800 needed to divert organic waste being collected by the city’s waste collector Sierra Waste.
Aside from odours, the city appears to be looking at other matters related to the large volume of organic material Harvest Power is handling.
Since August, Richmond Fire Rescue has responded to six fires found in the compost piles at the facility. On Nov. 10, the fire department issued a Notice of Violation for non-compliance, according to a report to city council by Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Gray. The city has also conducted inspections for rodent issues and has noted that Harvest Power has 200 traps to deal with an infestation. No non-compliance matters related to rodents were found.
Additionally, city staff report that Metro Vancouver staff has delivered two Notices of Violation to Harvest Power since Metro Vancouver issued the new air quality permit Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, the city reported Monday it has been granted full party status in the appeals process of the Harvest Power permit, despite having joined the the process late.
Senior city staff have also met with Ministry of Environment staff to request their involvement and support to enforce odour mitigation efforts.
Another moving part in this issue is the matter of health.
The city stated it received a letter from Vancouver Coastal Health on Friday. In it, VCH Chief Medical Officer Patricia Daly stated that while Harvest Power is creating foul odours, the emissions are “unlikely to cause health effects in addition to ones triggered by the offensive smell,” such as reports from residents of nausea and respiratory symptoms.
The city is asking VCH to attend a public meeting on Dec. 8 to field health-related questions. To respond to various concerns, Harvest Power CEO Chris Kasper will be available at the meeting at the Richmond Airport Hilton, Minoru Boulevard at 7 p.m.
