Residents continue to raise stink about south London smell
Some say they haven't been able to enjoy their properties for a decade because of the 'pungent' stink

cbc.ca
By Kate Dubinski
Aug. 29, 2017

After 10 years of suffering an unbearable stench, residents living near a giant compost facility in south London may be getting some answers.

The city's planning committee has approved a staff report recommending measures to alleviate the stench.

The committee heard from a full gallery, with more than a dozen Brockley-Shaver area residents sharing concerns.

They call it stomach turning - like standing next to the corpse of a dog that has been rotting for three days.

Imagine that being the smell when you step outside for a family barbeque.

One of the worst parts, says Dingman Drive resident Deborah Conner, is that you never know when the putrid smell will hit, or for how long.

She's one of several hundred residents of south London who are hoping the city can help with the smells stopping her from enjoying her property.

She lives within wiffing distance of a giant compost facility owned by Orgaworld, which takes in organics from Toronto, York region and St. Thomas, as well as commercial compost from Metro grocery stores and organics used by local farmers for crop management.

Also nearby is a biogas facility and the city's landfill, all of which can create unpleasant smells that blow onto nearby properties, depending on which way the wind is blowing and what is being processed.

City recommendations

The planning committee approved the following city staff recommendations at the meeting:

• Telling Toronto and York region that the city wants "action or further action with respect to odour challenges."
• Asking Orgaworld to restart a committee which works with residents
• Asking the Middlesex-London Health Unit to provide a health opinion about the odours coming from the waste management facilities
• Asking the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, which is responsible for regulating the facilities, to give annual updates about compliance.

City staff will also report back to the committee with proposed amendments to the city's nuisance bylaw to address the odour concerns raised.

"As a city here, we just want to see businesses operating, working and living in harmony with the community, and that has not been the case, unfortunately," said Jay Stanford, the city's director of environmental services and solid waste.

'We want the city to take a stand'

David Gillis lives less than a kilometre from Orgaworld. When it first opened 10 years ago, it was billed as an odourless facility.

Now, Gillis is a decade into his fight against the smell coming from the company.

Prior to Monday's meeting, Gillis said the city had not taken a stand.

"They've left it to the Ministry of the Environment. We want the city to take a stand and comes up with a solution to this problem. This is affecting our property values, our enjoyment of our properties, and our health," Gillis said.

He wants the plant to shut down.

Since Orgaworld Canada opened in 2010, it has been charged with 33 offences. Ten are still before the courts, a Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change spokesperson said.