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the richmond
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REVIEW
richmondreview.com
wednesday, november 21, 2012
32 PAGEs
Composting plant the source of 103 odour complaints
Lawsuit stalls shark fin decision
Harvest Power committed to being good neighbour
Legal challenge in Toronto prompts city hall to put brakes on decision by Matthew Hoekstra Staff Reporter
by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter Richmond’s Harvest Power was named “Breakout Company of the Year” by the New England Clean Energy Council last Friday. But the composting firm formerly known as Fraser Richmond Soil and Fibre won’t be receiving any accolades from Richmond residents anytime soon. Since The Richmond Review’s front page story on Nov. 7 detailing complaints by locals about a foul smell, 72 odour complaints have been lodged with Metro Vancouver, which is responsible for regional air quality issues. Of those 72 complaints between Nov. 7 and Nov. 14, 19 came on Nov. 7, of which 15 were linked by investigators to Harvest Power. That brings the total number of complaints for the year about a bad smell wafting from somewhere in Richmond to 245, of which Metro Vancouver investigators have fingered Harvest Power as the “probable source” of 103. “Everybody in Richmond has noticed the smell,” said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. He said the city re-
Harvest Power photo Harvest Power takes yard and food waste from the city and composts it, turning it into energy.
mains in contact with Metro Vancouver, which has jurisdiction in dealing with air quality issues. “I would like to instantly find the specific cause and to deal with it immediately, unfortunately there are some issues where although you pay immediate attention to, you cannot solve it instantly. What I am doing and what other members of council are doing is trying to stay on top of this as best as we can.” Harvest Power, which is near No. 9 Road and Highway 91 in East Richmond, takes yard and food waste from the city and composts it, turning it into energy. “We are absolutely committed to dealing with this issue, and given our good record of odour management at the facility going back to the early
1990s, see it as a temporary problem that we can full resolve,” said Jeff Leech, regional vice president of Harvest Power. A large part of the problem is expected to be addressed by a new multi-million dollar anaerobic digester that recently came online, and encapsulates the composting process into a closed-air system. Company officials believe the digester will address “the majority of the issues”, but is only one part of a multipronged approach that will see immediate improvement and ongoing improvements. That also includes increasing and upgrading the facility’s bio-filter capacity, implementing a facility-wide emission audit program, installing odour-control technology
and modelling, and regularly checking on air quality downwind from the facility as a quality-control practice. “The probable source of the remaining 141 complaints is unknown or in the process of being follow-up by staff,” said Ray Robb, manager of environmental regulation and enforcement division for Metro Vancouver. He said R. Wales & Son Industrial Rubber Rebuilders was the probable source of one odour complaint since the start of the year. Asked what residents should do in the meantime until the issue is addressed, Brodie said they should “continue to voice their concerns, not let the matter go.” To file a complaint online, visit www.tinyurl.com/ RichmondStink or call Metro Vancouver at 604-436-6777.
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A contentious decision whether to ban shark fin in Richmond won’t come anytime soon, The Richmond Review has learned. City staff have advised council that it should wait until a legal challenge—filed in Toronto by Fair and Responsible Governance Alliance against that city’s ban—is settled. In July, Anthony Marr of the Vancouver Animal Defense League asked Richmond council to ban shark fin, a Chinese delicacy used in soup. Civic politicians agreed to have staff study the issue, and report back by year’s end. In recent months, animal activists have battled with B.C. Asian Restaurant and Cafe Owners Association president David Chung and Richmond MP Alice Wong. Both have rejected the idea of making shark fin illegal. In September, Toronto’s shark fin bylaw came into effect, banning the possession, sale and consumption of shark fin products. But a group from the city’s Chinese Canadian community has sued the city, arguing that civic politicians have exceeded their authority. The Ontario Court of Justice heard the case on Nov. 5, but a decision has yet to be made. Until then, the Fair and Responsible Governance Alliance group isn’t commenting. Coun. Bill McNulty said it’s prudent for Richmond to wait for the outcome. “I can’t see us doing anything until the City of Toronto court decision is decided one way or the other,” he said. “All we’d be doing is taking the taxpayer to a lawsuit that we do not need to be fighting.” Activists say finning—the practice of removing fins from a shark and discarding the rest of the fish—threatens one-third of all shark species with extinction and kills up to 75 million sharks each year. Anthony Marr, meanwhile, called Richmond “cowardly for bowing down to a small minority that benefits from the trade.” Some politicians, like Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang, have suggested that Richmond and Vancouver work together on a ban. Marr said Vancouver should now push ahead without Richmond. “I would advise Vancouver to unilaterally do it and isolate Richmond as the only sore thumb sticking out in the entire Lower Mainland,” said Marr. “They should die of shame.” See Page 7
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