'Unbearable' smell from landfill has Hamilton Mountain residents feeling sick, calling for change

Ketan Kulkarni has only been living near Bedrock Drive on Hamilton's east mountain for a little over a year, but he's already looking to move away.

The smell of garbage and rotten eggs that fills the air in the neighborhood is faint on this otherwise warm summer evening, but neighbours say at times it becomes overwhelming.

It comes from a nearby landfill and has been permeating the area for years, residents say, but in the past few months, many have found it "unbearable."

"As soon as I [take] a right turn on the Green Mountain Road from Centennial Parkway, it hits you on your face," Kulkarni said.

Kulkarni was at the Upper Red Hill Park with his kids when he saw a group of people gathered near the park's pavilion last Tuesday evening. A community meeting was taking place where neighbours were discussing the issue.

The odour comes from a GFL Environmental facility on 65 Green Mountain Rd. W. From the playground, where children played that evening, on Aug. 29, a pile of garbage could be seen in the distance, standing taller than most houses.

With the smell starting to affect his wife with nausea and headaches, Kulkarni said he is thinking of moving away before his family's health is further affected.

"My children come here during the summertime, they're all day here playing," he said. "We haven't had any [serious illness], but I'm not going to wait until that happens."

Health concerns top of mind for neighbours

The meeting had at least 30 people in attendance, most of them neighbours of the area wanting answers.

Ward 9 councillor Brad Clark, MPP for Flamborough–Glanbrook Donna Skelly and Stephen Burt, district manager in Hamilton with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP), were also in attendance.

"I wanted to get some information about what the solutions are that they're discussing in regards to the stench and the actual toxicity in the air," said Kimberly Prawl, a resident of the area.

Prawl said if she takes deep breaths, she can "taste" the "disgusting" odour and gets headaches and shortness of breath as a result of the smell.

She said she moved to the area from Brampton, Ont., five years ago. She and her husband have been planning to have a baby, but she's scared breathing in the odour will affect her, she said.

Some residents called for the facility to close down.

Clark said the commercial landfill is supposed to be for non-hazardous, industrial material — no municipal waste — allowing nothing that would putrefy. "Theoretically, there is not supposed to be odours," Clark said.

Burt said he understands why people want to see the facility gone, but closing it "does not take the problem away."

"Our requirement is to ensure that actions are taken to mitigate [the smell]," he said.

Burt said the ministry has recently started monitoring air quality in the area by and that preliminary results didn't flag "anything concerning," but a full "health report" was in the works.

'I can't believe this is what's acceptable'

Burt said the smell was most likely related to leachate, a chemical stew of potentially toxic liquid formed when rain hits the top of the landfill and percolates through.

He said in June, when GFL was constructing a new landfill cell, they dug into old waste that was "a bit odorous" and didn't notify the community. Increased rain has also been a contributing factor, he said. 

CBC Hamilton reached out to GFL for comment but did not hear back before publication. 

Coun. Clark told CBC Hamilton he's working toward having an independent landfill impact assessment done. He said another reason for the smell may be the materials piled high up on the landfill.

"They [the ministry] have to look at both issues, rather than just ignore one thinking that they've got the right one targeted," he said.

Prawl said although some questions were answered during the meeting, she didn't feel like the conversation was productive, saying Burt was more focused on defending himself than hearing the community out. 

At one point, Burt was asked if he would buy a home in the neighbourhood. He answered he would "do his due diligence" before purchasing a home.

"It was such an insult to all of us, because we all did [do their due diligence]," said Prawl, adding the people who sold her the house told her the facility was closing down soon and would become a golf course, a line others said they heard as well.

Clark said the landfill was nearing its capacity several years ago, which is when landfills must come up with a closure plan. However, it was granted an expansion in 2019 instead, Clark said, shortly before it was taken over by GFL. 

The MECP approved the expansion, increasing capacity by more than 50 per cent, meaning the amount of waste the site could accept each year did not changed but the landfill could be open for another 10 to 15 years and the garbage could be piled higher.

The whole ordeal has left Prawl "disappointed," she said.

"I can't believe this is what's acceptable."

Coun. Clark said he has received dozens of complaints from his constituents over the last few weeks and, at times, can smell the odour in his home, 1.3 kilometres away from the landfill.

"I don't know what's in that odour. I just know, the longer I breathe it, the more my throat hurts," said Clark.

Clark said Mayor Andrea Horwath and city staff have both complained to the ministry about the issue. But Clark is concerned the ministry has not done enough to fix the problem.

"This is not a minor hiccup. It's a serious issue that the ministry has to tackle," he said.