City tells TransAqua to get rid of smell or move composting plant

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Moncton city council voted Monday to give TransAqua an ultimatum – contain the smell from its compost plant on Delong Avenue or move it to another location outside the city.

Council voted unanimously in favour of a motion brought forward by Coun. Bryan Butler, who said he’s been getting complaints about the smell in the north end for several years. Residents have complained that the smell in the air is so bad that they can’t go outside or enjoy their property. The smell was traced to the TransAqua composting plant on Delong Drive, west of Edinburgh Drive, where biosolids (human waste) from the wastewater treatment plant on Hillsborough Road are mixed with mulch and become compost.

TransAqua has taken several measures to contain the smell, and a recent study showed that the smell does not threaten human health.

“We as a council need to stand up for the people in the north end,” Butler said. “This motion sends a very strong message. This is the first time that council has said that enough is enough.”

The motion was on the agenda for the Jan. 15 meeting of council, but postponed because that meeting was adjourned after six hours with items left over. The motion insists that TransAqua “build a facility on its lot to keep the odours inside and equip it with air filters to eliminate the odours or, alternatively, move its aeration plant outside the city.”

Butler said the motion is also a message to city staff to continue dialogue with TransAqua to find a solution to the smell problem which has bothered residents for more than five years.

Michel Desjardins, the outgoing chairperson of TransAqua’s board, attended Monday’s meeting and later told reporters the motion would be taken seriously. At the end of Monday’s meeting, Mayor Dawn Arnold appointed Bruce Tait, a retired city employee, to the board of TransAqua.

TransAqua is paid for by the water and sewer bills of residents in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe. The wastewater treatment plant underwent a $90-million upgrade and changed from a chemical process to a biological process of treating the wastewater using live bacteria. The upgrade was done so the plant would conform to new federal standards and put recreational-quality water back into the Petitcodiac River. The biosolids from the process are trucked to the composting facility on Delong Avenue, where the strong smell is said to originate.

In its briefing note to councllors, the city said it had been receiving complaints about the unpleasant odour since 2021. The Department of Environment and Local Government identified three potential regulated sources of odours in the area: the TransAqua composing facility, Eco306 and Rayan Environmental Solutions. TransAqua and Rayan were ordered to submit odour control plans in the summer of 2022. TransAqua made changes to its facility to reduce and mitigate odours throughout 2023 and says it will continue odour monitoring in 2024.