Residents in the Yankee Flats and Silver Creek area of the Shuswap are exploring legal action against a local compost facility.
The neighbours surrounding the Spa Hills Farm say there is a lack of oversight and regulation of the business.
Deneed Tomlinson describes living next to the facility as “horrific.”
“There’s plastic all over my horse pasture, there’s meat chunks that the birds are dropping into the pen, into our yard,” she said.
Tomlinson told Global News the meat and bones she finds on her property come from the compost facility.
She said the odour emanating from the facility, which renders down animal parts, is also “disgusting.”
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Tomlinson isn’t the only neighbour saying they are upset with the Spa Hills compost company.
At a Columbia Shuswap Regional District meeting earlier this year, 70 individual impact statements were brought forward from citizens concerned with what they say is a lack of oversight of the facility.
But Tomlinson said nothing has been done.
In a statement to Global News, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District said, “Some of these concerns expressed by residents are not under the CSRD’s authority and involve other levels of government.
“It is the responsibility of these other agencies to look into any other alleged conduct and take steps to ensure their regulations are followed.”
Spa Hills owner Josh Mitchell invited Global News for a tour of the facility and said he has taken steps to mitigate the problems.
As for the animal byproducts found on other properties, Mitchell maintains he’s changed his dumping hours to prevent wildlife from dragging anything away from the facility and depositing it somewhere else.
However, while Mitchell hopes the problems he has with his neighbours become minor, the group of neighbours say they’ve retained legal counsel and are considering legal action.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
