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the richmond
richmondreview.com
Getting animated 23
REVIEW wednesday, november 7 , 2012
28 PAGEs
What is that smell? Foul smell around Richmond is driving some locals bonkers by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter
Martin van den Hemel photo Members of Wakayama, Japan’s city council are in town to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of the sister-city relationship with Richmond. A special tree planting ceremony was held at Steveston Community Centre Tuesday morning to mark the occasion.
A blossoming relationship Tree planting ceremony commemorates 40 years of Richmond and Wakayama bond by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter A relationship that has blossomed for nearly 40 years, now figures to be cherished forever, with Tuesday’s symbolic planting of a maple tree outside Steveston Community Centre. A delegation from Wakayama, Japan, including Wakayama Mayor Kenichi Ohashi and city council vice
chairperson Hiroko Nojima, were acknowledged at a special tree planting ceremony at Steveston Community Centre to commemorate the upcoming 40th anniversary of the the sister city relationship between Wakayama and Richmond. The Wakayama delegation, which also includes members of council and international affairs representatives, is in town until Thursday. Richmond and Wakayama signed a sister-city agreement on July 16, 1973, and the relationship has had many highlights: • the emperor and empress of Japan have visited Richmond • official delegations have attended the opening of city halls • Steveston hosting Japan’s speed
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skating team for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in 2010 • numerous student exchanges between the cities The sister city program has fostered a special relationship between the two cities, according to Sylvia Gwozd, chair of the Richmond sister-city committee. “The richness of the homestay experience is something that can’t be duplicated in any number of tourist trips,” Gwozd said. Even after just three of four days, students from Richmond and Wakayama find a connection despite the differences in culture and language. “I think this is something very special that our world needs to experience.” The official celebration of the 40th anniversary will be held in 2013 in Wakayama, Japan.
What is that foul smell in the air that comes and goes with a simple change in wind direction? It’s a question on the mind of quite a few Richmond residents. “Be advised that there is a strong odour in Steveston, from Railway/Moncton to No. 2 Road and Williams,” wrote one local resident on Monday in a fax to The Richmond Review. “It has been getting worse.” Wrote another local via e-mail: “How would I go about...having someone report in the news about the stink in Richmond? Does no one else smell it? I never see comments in the paper about it. Yet Richmond, especially the southwestern part of the city, seems to continually stink. It is a nauseating smell, comes and goes, has been for years, but lately it’s been every day or night, an hour here, an hour there.” The Review also heard complaints from residents in Terra Nova and East Richmond about the odour. Earlier this year, The Review wrote about the litany of complaints to Metro Vancouver. Of the dozens of complaints this year handled by Metro Vancouver, 27 were confirmed as the result of Harvest Power—formerly Fraser Richmond Soil and Fibre—located at the foot of No. 7 Road, along Blundell Road. Don Miller, senior officer with Metro Vancouver’s environmental regulation and enforcement division, said investigators from Metro Vancouver rely primarily on wind direction from meteorological recordings to identify the sources of those complaints. “It’s always best to get the information as fresh as possible to us. Calling us right away is best,” he said. He said when a complaint comes in, the caller is asked about what they suspect is the source of the smell. Once that source has been confirmed, or written off, that’s the end of the investigation, Miller said, because of the lack of further resources. If investigators are able to make it out to the area and get a whiff of the smell themselves, there’s other things they can do to trace the source. Locals who have a complaint about a foul smell should call Metro Vancouver at 604-436-6777 or file a complaint online with Metro Vancouver at tinyurl.com/RichmondStink.
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