‘Alarming and concerning’: Pilot Butte still looking to stop composting facility

Despite another meeting meant to answer any questions and hear concerns, the people of Pilot Butte still want to stop a composting facility from being built just outside the town.

Mayor Peggy Chorney and the town council are leading the charge, with petitions and letters meant to be sent to the provincial government being available at the town office.

“It’s nothing short of alarming and concerning for us,” Chorney said about the facility when contacted Tuesday morning. “We’re not feeling that any responses alleviated our concerns, but rather reinforced that we have a reason to be concerned.”

Chorney said the community’s concerns remains the same: The risk of a leak contaminating the aquifer that runs under that parcel of land, the added traffic on Highway 46, the potential for a smell, and the possibility of rodents and other animals being attracted to the facility.

The company that will operate the facility has explained the compost material will be covered with Gore-Tex tarps, but that doesn’t have Chorney convinced there wouldn’t be a smell.

“The company uses covers or tarps and we know that when they become loose — let’s say they blow because we’re prone to those northwest winds — or tear, there’s potential for those noxious fumes to be deposited over Pilot Butte,” explained Chorney.

Not only are there concerns about safety on the highway, which locals say already has a lot of crashes, but she said there’s concern that wildlife will be attracted to the facility and will crowd the highway.

“We know that there’ll be additional commercial compost trucks daily on that high-used highway already. It already has strenuous driving conditions and we believe (is an) overused single-lane highway,” she said.

Chorney said the community is also frustrated over the lack of engagement with the community.

She said they want the RM of Edenwold to take this situation back to its council and stop it from going ahead. She believes there’s been a misinterpretation of the RM’s zoning bylaws around permitted use instead of discretionary use.

Chorney said she also wants to speak with the City of Regina about this, given it will be the city’s composting program being serviced at the facility.

The mayor said the town will be looking at legal advice on how to move forward.