I was concerned to read in this article, our Mayor Wendal Milne saying, “It has to be a good deal for Sooke,” to receive $150,000 from the district to haul bio-solids to the landfill.
According to this article, 140,000 tonnes of liquid waste would be transported by truck to Sooke, to be treated and composted. Any composting business would need to be located close to a sewer treatment plant. Guess where our treatment plant is located? Right in front of your door step. 140,000 tonnes is the approx. start-up figure and to what amount will it escalate in the following years?
Our fragile West Coast Road is already burdened by those heavy and dangerous logging trucks from one direction, traffic from this liquid waste in the other will just add to this problem.
What concerns me most is how much our air will be affected by this. Do you think for one moment that this treated compost will decompose odourless or without creating a peculiar smell? I don’t have to remind you from which direction the wind blows here in Sooke throughout the year. This pile of compost will sit right in front of the city of Sooke.
I am asking: why is Saanich, Victoria and the West Shore not interested in this business?
Two years ago some dredging took place between West Coast Road and Ella Road, for approximately two to three days. Every day my neighbours and I had to endure a very foul smell coming from that side, carried by the daily breeze and we live quite high up on Henlyn Drive. Mister Hooper stated that the locals would get free class A compost. For compensation, I wonder?
My concerns remain with the perfect air that we breathe here in Sooke. Not alone our personal comfort will be in jeopardy, it will affect our tourist industries and our real estate market. I can only hope that our city fathers look at this project from all angles.
Yes, our city coffers badly need a refill, but at what price?
A concerned citizen of Sooke.
Wilhelm Hoellstin
Sooke