'It’s been a stinky summer': South London residents live with stench from nearby compost facility, again

Residents in south London are once again raising concerns about foul smells they believe are coming from a nearby organic compost processing facility.

“Oh it’s been a stinky summer. It’s really starting to wind up in that smell again,” said Dingman Drive resident and business owner Allan Tipping.

He points the finger at the Convertus facility, just west of Wellington Road South.

“It’s a garbage, sour, putrid smell. I’ve heard some people describe it as, it smells like natural gas leak. But it’s a smell that is very distinct to this facility,” Tipping explained.

The plant originally opened in 2008 as Orgaworld, and for years had a troubled relationship with neighbours. For the past couple of years things have been good, according to neighbours, but they say something changed this year, and the unpleasantness has wafted back into their lives.

In fact, this past January the city of London began sending green bin waste to the plant for processing.

According to Jay Stanford, the city’s director of waste management, London sends 20 to 25 trucks of green waste to the site every day.

He says the city has also been hearing concerns from residents, and they’d like them resolved as much as anyone.

Dingman Drive resident Allan Tipping says it has been a stinky summer because of a nearby organic compost processing facility (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

“So the city of London does deliver green bin materials to Convertus, and we have heard from the neighbours in the area in the last one or two weeks that they’ve started to smell odours again.

That’s definitely a concern for the city of London. We’ve been in contact not only with the owners of Convertus, but also the provincial government, just to determine the next steps.”

Convertus CEO Mike Leopold issued the following statement in response to an interview request from CTV News.

Statement from Mike Leopold, CEO of Convertus Group

LONDON, ON – As proud members of the London community, we take our responsibility to our neighbours very seriously.

Convertus has invested millions of dollars into industry leading odour management technology, and our commitment to excellence is what has made us the most advanced waste management operator in London.

Our site not only meets, but exceeds, provincial requirements for odour abatement, and we will continue to diligently monitor our footprint.

Convertus will continue to cooperate with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks in identifying the source of the odour in the South London Community. We welcome feedback from our neighbours and will continue to work with them should issues ever arise.

CTV News also contacted the Ontario Ministry of the Environment about the odour concerns, but it had not provided a response by publish deadline.

Allan Tipping said he just wants to be able to use his backyard again, before summer fades away.

“The MOE has the power to do it. They have to get on them again, work hard, and get it stopped,” he said.