TransAqua wants to consult province over Moncton smell ultimatum

TransAqua's board chair is questioning whether Moncton has proof the utility's sewage composting site is the source of a pungent smell in the north end a week after councillors gave the organization an ultimatum about the facility.

"My nightmare scenario would be to go into a major investment that doesn't solve the root issue, that doesn't solve the problem that these people are experiencing," Nicolas Cormier, TransAqua's interim chair, said after the utility's board met Thursday.

"So I just want to make sure that we're confident in the root cause before we put a solution in place."

The meeting was just over a week after Moncton council unanimously voted to "insist" TransAqua enclose its large compost facility in a building with a filtration system or relocate outside the city.

TransAqua treats wastewater from Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview at a site along the Petitcodiac River. "Biosolids" from the wastewater are sent to an outdoor composting site in Moncton south of Berry Mills Road which has operated since 2005.

The council vote followed years of complaints about a pungent smell that occasionally wafts over the growing north end. Coun. Bryan Butler, who represents the north end and introduced the motion, told reporters he has no doubt the smell is from TransAqua's composting site.

TransAqua board members briefly spoke about media coverage of the council vote during their regular meeting Thursday, but only discussed the substance of the issue during a closed-door meeting. When the public meeting resumed, the board voted to reply to the city and to meet with provincial regulators next week.

"We want to be measured in our response," Cormier said in the interview after the vote.

"Obviously, the City of Moncton is a major stakeholder and we take that pretty seriously. Our response is mostly going to be focused on our next steps, the big one, of course, being meeting with our regulators to get their opinion."

TransAqua has repeatedly said it is complying with provincial rules, though city councillors last week said they were voting in favour of the motion as a message to do more.

Councillors were told that because TransAqua is a corporation established by the province, the city alone could not direct it how to act. That leaves it to the board, appointed by Moncton, Dieppe and Riverivew councils, to determine how to respond.

Cormier said TransAqua would evaluate the potential cost of acting on the city's motion. TransAqua is funded through wastewater fees paid by homes and businesses in Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview.

"I understand that this has been a big issue for the constituents for a long time, so I understand why they're taking big actions," Cormier said. 

"My role in this is going to be to make sure that we move forward responsibly with it, that we're not spending ratepayer money … irresponsibly, I guess."

Cormier personally doesn't believe there's a "smoking gun" on the source of the smell and more analysis would be required to establish it.

Other potential sources named in the past include the Eco 360 landfill and the Rayan Environmental Solutions scrapyard. 

Eco 360, which also processes compost, says its material stays indoors for the first two months before being moved outdoors.

The province previously told CBC that Rayan could be a source of a smell in the north end, but "of different nature" than the one from TransAqua.

Last year a report for the city by Hive Engineering suggested the smells were not a health hazard.

A complaint line launched as part of its air quality testing had 16 reports of a chemical or burning type smell mostly near Rayan. There were 99 complaints described as a sewage, compost or rotten odour across a broader part of the city.

On Thursday, Cormier questioned whether the wind was blowing in a way that would carry a smell from TransAqua into areas where complaints were made.

"It's been a long time since I took my environmental engineering courses, but wind direction and odour tend to correlate pretty well," Cormier said during the board meeting.

"And in some cases, they didn't," Kevin Rice, TransAqua's general manager, responded. 

Cormier later said the province would have to release the data he was basing his comments on. 

The Hive report says the firm reviewed smell complaints to the city and province and "observed that the predominant wind direction associated with the complaints was from the south, southwest and west."

TransAqua, Rayan and Eco 360 are to the south or west of the residential areas where the complaints were recorded.