For the second time this summer, Sarnia’s mayor is appealing to the Ministry of Environment to do something about the odour coming from Wessuc Inc. on Scott Road.

The Brantford company operates the Scott Road Lagoons, which on several occasions over the spring and summer months, have been the source of a foul smell blanketing part of the city.

Mike Bradley said he has written a letter to the Minister of Environment David Piccni.

“In July I wrote a similar letter to the Ministry of Environment (MOE) civil servants in the region,” said Bradley. “I didn’t get a response but I do know city staff have been dealing with them, and here we are five or six weeks later and I’ve decided to write to the minister of the environment himself. Earlier this year, when Wessuc was here [at city council] I told them if this continued that’s where I was going to go, so we’ve been more than fair with them.”

Bradley said the city has now been told the company is cleaning out the lagoon.

“We’re told now they’re not bringing any new materials into the site at this time, for storage,” he said. “But what does that mean? Are we going to go through this again next spring? So, that’s why I believe the minister of the environment needs to authorize an investigation of the highest level to come in, look at the site, see what the solutions are and if there aren’t solutions let’s find another way to deal with the issue.”

In a post on the waste management company’s Facebook page, Shire Corp, it states the clean out at the Sarnia lagoon is ongoing and is expected to continue through the first week of September, weather permitting. The post said this will significantly reduce odours in the area.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the Scott Road site is approved to receive and temporarily store a variety of waste materials that may be considered non-agricultural waste when applied to agricultural land.

That can include organic waste such as treated sewage biosolids, assorted food wastes, and some inorganic wastes.