PHOTO CREDIT:  ALLAN BENNER/THE STANDARD

As a follow-up to our post on the proposed Aleafia licensed cannabis production facility in Grimsby, we came across some articles from Allan Benner of The St. Catharine’s Standard.  They may shatter the myths held by some that these operations don’t give off strong odours and are easily contained.

In the first of his series, Benner interviewed some local residents that lives approximately 1 km from the Redecan greenhouses:

At times, the neighbours say the smell can be unbearable.

Norman Guay said the smell is so bad he can’t open his windows, and he’s worried about turning on his air conditioner on a hot day, fearing it will bring the odour inside.

You can read the full article here:  https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/8640941-neighbourhood-goes-to-pot-over-marijuana-odours/

Despite the concern of residents, Redecan is planning an expansion of it’s facilities as it still attempts to control the odours emanating from it’s facility:

Augustyn said the town’s bylaw enforcement officers received 40 complaints about the Foss Road greenhouse since the start of the year — and most of those were filed in May.

“It’s through the roof,” Augustyn said.

He said the skunky odour emanating from the greenhouse is sporadic.

“It comes in waves. Some weekends people say they can smell it. Other weekends, they can’t, but it’s affecting a huge number of people across the town of Pelham and Welland.”

The full text of that article can be found at:  https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/8687470-cannabis-greenhouses-expanding-despite-odour-concerns/

In his most recent article, Benner spoke to Redecan on their efforts to battle the odours affecting residents:

In an email, Redecan spokesperson Chloe Mills said the company is “committed to minimizing any negative impact we may have on our neighbours and are working to mitigate the odour that is being generated periodically.”

She said the addition of supplementary carbon filters, to its existing exhaust filters and “top-of-the-line” ISO certified odour control system it has been using, “has further enhanced our ability to manage any odours generated by our facility.”

“As with any cannabis producing operation, there are smells that are produced from time to time at our facility,” she said.

Asked about the odour last week, neighbouring resident Darryll Godin said, “It is a bit better.”

You can read the rest of that article at this link:  https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/8705353-cannabis-greenhouse-steps-up-efforts-to-mitigate-odours/

The takeaway here is that despite claims of “state of the art” scrubbers and other techno-babble, it only got a “bit better”.  There are going to be unpleasant (for most) odours as a pure by-product of cannabis cultivation.

We aren’t sure why Pelham has tried to off-load enforcement to Health Canada while other municipalities like Norfolk county have been using the tools of By-Law to ensure these facilities strictly comply with odour requirements.

Although Norfolk Country has also to deal with alternative production sites, the last half of this recent article from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute illustrates how they are making things work with all facilities:  http://ontarioplanners.ca/Blog/Planning-Exchange/June-2018/Change-is-in-the-Wind