2 Moncton councillors want to move compost facility to address north end odour

While a report on air quality in Moncton's north end showed that while the air is safe to breathe, the sewage smell is still present.

Ward 3 councillor Dave Steeves says that he’s received hundreds of emails about an intermittent sewage smell in some parts of Moncton’s north end since being elected in 2021.

“When residents say that it is as if they are living inside a porta-potty, we’re just really standing up for the residents and saying enough is enough,” he said after a council meeting on Monday.

In previous studies carried out by the province on the smell, TransAqua was identified as a possible source of the smell, along with scrap metal recycling facility Rayan and waste disposal facility Eco360.

All three are located in an industrial area near the residential part of the north end.

On Monday, council heard a presentation about a study done on the air quality in Moncton’s north end completed by Hive Engineering, a private environmental engineering company.

It was ordered by council in August, and carried out throughout the month of September.

The primary findings of the study were that while the air was safe to breathe, “Hive’s team confirmed and personally observed the odours reported by the community.”

After a lengthy discussion following the presentation of the report, council passed a motion that included a request that Rayan submit an updated odour mitigation plan to the province by the end of January, to “initiate discussions” with the province regarding potential air quality testing to be completed in 2024, as well as to “Continue discussions with TransAqua regarding ongoing odour complaints and further actions that could be taken to mitigate this issue.”