Councillor Milton Countway said since the beginning of August he has received eight complaints about the odour from the facility. He said unlike other times, the complaints reach beyond the immediate vicinity of the site.
"I have witnessed the smell from the compost facility as far as Mahone Auto," said Councillor Countway. He said he also detected the aroma at Covey Lake.
"The smell seems worse. I don't know if it's the humidity. I don't know what it is," said Councillor Countway, noting the facility is impeding residents' ability to enjoy their own properties.
Solid-waste operations manager Jim Annand said there were 12 documented complaints at the facility from May 21 to August 6.
He said the odour comes from the organic material which is piled outside and it is necessary to turn the piles constantly for the compost to become a finished product.
"We do that with an excavator and that's where we create the odour," he said.
Raw materials are kept inside the facility where they undergo a process to break down the materials. That process takes up to five weeks. The materials are then piled outside where the turning takes place.
Councillor Frank Fawson said during the election campaign last fall he also heard numerous complaints about the waste site. He said he was under the impression that certain upgrades to the facility were going to help with odour control.
Mr. Annand said about a year ago an aeration bed was replaced inside the facility. The replacement has improved the process. In addition, he said a fan is currently on order to improve aeration of organic material by adding more oxygen to the material and decreasing moisture. He said the improvement means when the material is discharged from the facility and piled, it should be closer to maturation and therefore have less odour.
Another issue that is creating odour, he said, is the facility has piles of raw material left over from the winter which has been kept outside. He said the raw material accumulated when the aeration bed was being replaced.
"When the springtime came this year, we started to turn those piles," said Mr. Annand. "That created a very strong odour that you would not normally have."
He said those piles are slowly being introduced into the composting process.
In addition, he said, the air from the compost building will be processed through a biofilter.
The committee passed a motion to complete air-quality monitoring and testing in the geographical areas of complaint and advise residents of the plans to reduce the odour.