Compost plan slammed

Photo: Contributed

The Summerland landfill

Like their counterparts in Penticton, it appears many residents who live near the Summerland landfill want no part of a regional composting facility that could be installed there.

The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen is currently in the middle of holding open houses while it decides between a pair of locations for a regional organics (food scraps and yard waste) composting facility.

They have settled on one of two locations, on PIB land near the south of the reserve, and at the Summerland landfill.

But in a barrage of letters to Summerland council, several residents let the district know they are unhappy with the possibility, citing odours and traffic.

“I live approximately two blocks from the Waste Management site and have experienced odours in the past from that area, I suspect this proposed site may bring the same problems,” wrote Marion Broadbent.

“Summerland has spent millions of dollars on the Prairie Valley Road corridor from Hwy. 97 to provide the safest, accessible, and attractive entrance to our downtown, and residential areas along dedicated walking and cycling paths to encourage daily active lifestyles for all ages,” reads an email from “Bob and Nancy.”

Other messages asked for more information and wide public consultation on the decision by the district, while urging the RDOS to select the Marron Valley location over Summerland.

An engineering odour mapping report developed for the RDOS indicates odours will increase, particularly if a regional wastewater treatment sludge composting facility is included, although that remains a big maybe. The RDOS does not even know at this point if the Summerland landfill could handle that quantity of biosolids.

There is two more public info sessions on the compost facility scheduled for later this month; May 10, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Kaleden Community Hall and May 17, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Rebekah Hall in Summerland.