Some compost near the Campbell Mountain Landfill in Penticton, B.C., failed to qualify as actual compost and was instead deemed as waste under the Environment Management Act.
Newly-released information shows some concerns were raised about Penticton’s waste facility following an inspection in October of 2022.
“First and foremost, I want to make sure everyone knows that any compost that is distributed from our facility is safe to use,” said Penticton Infrastructure general manager Kristen Dixon.
“Yes that’s part of their regular monitoring program. And as they reported, we produce and do our own testing as well to make sure that what we’re producing is safe and it’s just part of our regular operations up there.”
The non-compliance advisory letter, dated Nov. 16, 2022, laid out the Ministry’s findings. The letter was recently published on the Natural Resources Compliance and Enforcement Database.
Inspectors found a number of instances where the operation was out of compliance with regulations, including higher than allowable levels of fecal coliform bacteria. And another, but not listed as a compliance matter, was a computer glitch that lead to no temperature records for 2021.
“We’re constantly monitoring the blend of material that goes in to make the product and monitoring changes that we can make to make a better end product, so we’re always making little tweaks and changes,” said Dixon.
“We’ve also made some changes that you would have noted there are some issues with data collection and things like that. So we had a computer challenge, just like lots of places have.”
The landfill is operated by the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen on behalf of the city. However, the city looks after the composting service and says there is no risk to the public.
“It’s a combined effort to make sure we’re handling the region’s waste in a productive manner,” said Dixon. “Again, just the safety element, it’s perfect to use for top dressing and various landscaping uses. Very safe to use.”
Meanwhile, the RDOS and the city have plans for a new compost facility in the future.
“We know in the longer term picture we’re working towards a solution with the Regional District to have a better option for organics processing in the region,” said Dixon.
“Ideally, we’re looking at a facility that will be able to have a load of food waste, organics that are currently going into the landfill, as well as the biosolids and some of the wood waste yard waste that we’re already collecting now. We’re looking at a solution that will cover off all aspects of organics.”
The city was not penalized for the violations but the ministry says they will be taken into account in the event of any future issues.
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