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Wastewater utility TransAqua plans to stop operating a sewage composting facility that’s been blamed for a pungent odour in Moncton’s north end.
TransAqua collects and treats sewage from Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview at a wastewater plant in Riverview. Sewage “biosolids” are trucked to a composting site off Delong Drive in Moncton and to a second location in the community of Five Rivers.
Complaints about a smell in Moncton’s north end led to council in 2024 voting in favour of a motion calling on the utility to either relocate or enclose the facility in a building.
Since then the utility has been studying options. TransAqua board chair Éric Arsenault told Moncton council Monday that a decision had been made which would be revealed within days.
TransAqua sent a letter to the municipalities this week saying its board decided “to pursue the transportation and processing of its biosolids at a third-party composting facility, rather than continuing to operate its own biosolids composting facility.”
The letter doesn’t name a third party or say where biosolids will be sent.
Covers overtop piles of compost at TransAqua’s location off Delong Drive in Moncton in 2022. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
TransAqua declined to comment. Spokesperson Velta Tomsons said TransAqua wouldn’t provide an interview until after a closed-door meeting with Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview councils in December.
Tomsons acknowledged an employee posted an “internal communication” about the decision on social media Tuesday.
The letter says the Delong Drive location is expected to remain open for a year or two as the transition is completed. That letter says the utility will seek to move affected employees to the wastewater treatment plant.
Moncton Coun. Bryan Butler says he expects people in his north end ward will be pleased. (Shane Magee/CBC)
Moncton Coun. Bryan Butler said his understanding is the Moncton location will stop operating, likely a relief to residents who have complained for years about a smell in the area.
“It’s just been a long haul,” Butler said.
The letter this week to the municipalities says a significant factor in the decision was the anticipated cost to deal with the smells from the Delong Drive location.
“Such investments could require major infrastructure funding commitments from participating municipalities and would likely result in significant increases to TransAqua’s rates,” the letter states.
TransAqua, also known as the Greater Moncton Wastewater Commission, is a corporate entity created by the province. It’s funded through wastewater fees paid by homes and businesses in Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview. The rate has remained $210 since 2016.
Five Rivers Mayor Kevin Scully said his understanding is that TransAqua also plans to end operation of its site in the community about 50 kilometres north of Moncton.
TransAqua purchased the location in 2022 and began trucking biosolids there between May and November as it sought to deal with the smell issue in Moncton. It led to fewer complaints in Moncton, but upset in Five Rivers.
“It really didn’t sit well with people, as I’m sure you can understand that we have three large cities compared to our area, basically transporting their biosolids to our area,” Scully said.
“And we have very little, or any say, in the matter.”
Scully said TransAqua has been good to deal with, and its staff have answered questions and assisted the community as it considers what to do with a sewage lagoon in the Rexton area.
“I have to look at things from both sides of the equation and, and say thank you. However, we are happy that it’s going this direction,” Scully said.