Stink from Delta compost facility wafting over municipal election
A mayoral candidate and former Delta staffer’s actions when dealing with a local composting operation have become a topic of hot debate among the city ’s municipal election candidates.
For more than a year, East Ladner residents have been plagued by foul smells from the Enviro- Smart Organics facility, which accepts organic waste from around the region, and has been the subject of about 500 odour complaints this year.
However, it wasn’t until Metro Vancouver board chairman Greg Moore penned a letter in response to a query about the length of time it was taking to issue a long-awaited air-quality permit for EnviroSmart that it exploded into a top election issue.
In that letter to Delta Mayor Lois Jackson, Moore noted that Metro staff met with representatives from Enviro-Smart and a senior Delta staffer in March 2013 and told them that an air-quality permit was required for the facility.
“Delta staff strenuously objected to any requirement that EnviroSmart obtain an air-quality permit, and objected to any public consultation regarding EnviroSmart’s applications to increase allowed tonnage under the solid waste licence,” Moore wrote.
George Harvie, who was Delta’s chief administrative officer at the time, was the only staffer in attendance. Harvie is now running for mayor with the Achieving for Delta slate.
Hours after the meeting, Ray Robb, Metro Vancouver’s manager of environmental regulatory and enforcement services, wrote an email to Metro’s general manager of legal and legislative services and others about his interactions with Harvie.
“George Harvey (sic) appeared to say that I should just grant EnviroSmart everything they want under the solid waste licence without any consultation and tell them that they didn’t need an air permit, or at least tell them that I would not enforce the need for an air permit,” Robb wrote.
Harvie said that he was “carrying out the direction of council” by voicing concerns about the permit process at that meeting, and any allegations that he stood in the way of permitting or a public consultation process are without substance.
“I was speaking against and on behalf of all our industries, both in the agricultural area and the industrial area, against the proposed permitting system by Metro Vancouver,” he said. “It was flawed.”
In August, Metro Vancouver issued a five-year air-quality-management permit that requires Enviro-Smart owner GFL Environmental to enclose the facility and install high-quality pollutioncontrol equipment.
Harvie said the meeting has only become an issue among the candidates because he is running for mayor.
“It’s just purely political. It’s opportune during the election, and I guess they ’re afraid that I’m doing quite well,” he said.
Jackson, who is running for a councillor position with Harvie’s slate, agreed, calling the issue “a tempest in a teapot.”
She said staff have thousands of meetings each year, and this was no different than any other meeting, so council was not specifically advised of what took place.
Jackson said Harvie went to observe the meeting, which she described as “informal,” but did not have any say in what took place because the city doesn’t have jurisdiction when it comes to solid waste licences or air-quality permits.
Jackson said any comments Harvie may have made wouldn’t have carried any weight.
“We have no authority,” Jackson said.
Harvie’s two main competitors for the mayor’s seat, Coun. Sylvia Bishop and former police chief Jim Cessford, believe the situation is more serious.
Cessford, who is with Independents Working for You, has called the situation “a trust issue” and said an investigation into the city’s handling of the compost file should be completed before the election.
“I think for sure that the people of Delta deserve openness and transparency,” Cessford said. “We need to get some answers there and find out the depth and breadth of the matter.”
On Tuesday, Bishop announced that if she is elected, she would immediately appoint a special ad hoc mayor’s standing committee on ethical local government, which she said is prompted by the “debacle” involving Enviro- Smart.
“Trust needs to be restored in our city hall processes at the top level,” she said.
Bishop hopes some answers will come as a result of a freedom-ofinformation request her running mate, Coun. Robert Campbell, filed last month seeking all relevant documents related to the March 2013 meeting.
He has also asked Harvie for evidence that he was acting at council’s behest.
“It is becoming an election issue, and until we get better answers from Mr. Harvie, the issue will remain where it is,” Bishop said. “He seems to be the architect of a large portion of this problem.”
The City of Delta is hosting a public information meeting about the composting facility on Thursday, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Harris Barn (4140 Arthur Dr.).