By Doug Collins

If there’s a smell in the air, and it’s near the Domtar mill, it isn’t always Domtar

Sep 2, 2018 | 8:16 AM

KAMLOOPS — If there’s a smell in the air, and it seems to be coming from Domtar, it’s not always Domtar. 

While the pulp mill often gets the blame for odours in the air around Kamloops, this past week it was the City who created the stink.

The City has apologized for a stink in the air over the past few days. 

Apparently, it’s the result of an application of biosolids near Domtar that turned out to be septic.

The City’s Jen Fretz says they were made aware of the unscheduled application of biosolids late last week.

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She says the site is an approved location for biosolids application, but in this case, the biosolids had turned septic.

There are no health concerns, and Fretz says the natural breakdown of the biosolids is what caused the smell. She says it should go away over the next few days.

Normally, that kind of odour doesn’t happen with the land-application of biosolids. 

Fretz adds that the City’s contract with the contractor involved has expired, and the City is looking for new proposals. Part of the new proposal will put in place testing of biosolids for septic before they are applied.