'We've been getting sick from it': Compost odour causing issues for Regina business

It’s now been over a year since the City of Regina introduced its composting program and one Regina resident is raising concerns over a major drawback – the smell.

"We’ve been getting sick from it and you can’t work when the smell is really bad several times a week," Cindy Kearns explained.

Kearns has owned a commercial property just north of the Regina Landfill for over 25 years, and the smell has just recently become a problem since the compost program began.

“When you’re inside its okay but if you have to have your doors open, there’s a lot of shops and different things here where they have to work with their doors open all day long and it’s causing some real concerns for people,” Kearns told CTV News.

"Plus it isn’t good for business when people can’t come to your business because they can’t stand the smell getting out of their car."

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As Kearns explained, the smell is particularly noticeable on warm summer days like the ones the city has been facing this year.

She reached out to the City of Regina but says she is struggling to receive a concrete answer regarding any future plans to address the issue.

"They should have planned it better and decided on where things were going to be and had that in place before they started doing this."

The City of Regina declined to comment and referred CTV News to EverGen, the waste management firm that operates the temporary compost site at the city's landfill.

EverGen told CTV News that the company takes all concerns raised by the public and stakeholders seriously.

"All complaints are investigated," it said.

"The net benefit of composting is reduced greenhouse gas emissions. We are finalizing the design for a new permanent facility, which will use state of the art technology. In the meantime, we will continue to work with the City to continuously improve the interim facility."