Penticton

Osoyoos is not offering a particularly warm welcome for "liquid waste" that originates from homes and other sources outside its municipal boundaries.

In fact, the reception the town is offering is downright frosty, as council has reiterated a previous decision to bar septic disposal from rural sources as of September 1.

"It's unfortunate, but this really is an issue for the regional district," says Mayor Stu Wells in a news release.

The amount of septic effluent being dumped in the liquid waste pits at the Osoyoos landfill has increased significantly in recent years, with most of the increase coming from rural areas, says Wells.

Liquid waste is being trucked in from as far away as Keremeos, Cawston and Rock Creek, Wells says.

The rapid increase in dumping has had a very practical impact on Osoyoos residents: "a big increase in odour" now present seven days a week, and it is particularly hard on visitors to the popular Desert Centre, he says.

"The Town of Osoyoos has to manage its own locally-generated waste and its dumping sites responsibly," Wells says.

Wells expanded on his comments in an interview Saturday with Castanet News, saying that council might suspend the pending ban if the regional district came up with a concrete plan for dealing with the issue.

"The key words here are 'solid plan' because (the regional district) has been at it for almost a year, and obviously nobody thought to do anything about it until the last minute when they realized this is coming to an end."

Wells says there is a potentially viable alternative in Oliver for septic waste disposal.