Spiers wants more open process

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: October 29, 2009 6:00 PM

One politician is demanding increased transparency over a controversial composting plant.Coun. Bob Spiers believes there is more the City of Vernon could be doing to satisfy public concerns about the Ogogrow biosolids facility in the Commonage, particularly when it comes to odours. “We need a data base that will take odour readings and provide it to the public,” he said. He would also like to see regular reports to council on the facility’s ability to handle sewer biosolids that originate from Vernon and Kelowna.

“No one on council wants to be in the position we were a year ago,” he said. “All of sudden there was a surprise that we were over-capacity.” As a result, both Vernon and Kelowna had to divert some biosolid waste to landfills instead of turning it into Ogogrow fertilizer.In August, both communities — which own the facility — agreed to launch an upgrade and expansion to deal with capacity issues. That was partly in response to residents complaining about foul odours.

Coun. Patrick Nicol is hopeful action is being taken to minimize concerns.“There’s been a lot of progress made,” he said. “There are things that have been done wrong but there have been things that have been done right.”

Council has directed staff to work with the City of Kelowna to establish a policy that addresses operational failures or non-compliance of the facility to ensure that these situations are effectively managed.Vernon will also ask Kelowna to develop an operational procedure for the phased reintroduction of any diverted biosolids once the expansion is completed.