Foul odor reports down in Frenchville

FRENCHVILLE – Foul odors from a Canadian chicken manure composting facility have not been much of a bother in this St. John Valley border town this summer, but not because changes have been made at the facility – nothing has been done.

Frenchville Town Manager Philip Levesque said he monitors the odor situation every day, as do four other people in town, and he has been bothered only once this summer.

He said he has received no complaints. Last summer complaints were an everyday occurrence.

“As far as I am concerned, if it stays this way I don’t have any complaints,” he said Tuesday. “If it keeps going like this, it will be good.

“I’ve heard there is more of a problem on the one end [the eastern area] of town,” he said. “Overall, it’s been pretty good.”

Earlier this year, Frenchville residents raised a stink because their town across the St. John River from St. Hilaire, New Brunswick, was plagued by manure smells emanating from a chicken manure composting facility in that town.

It has been nearly 30 months since the Frenchville town office received its first complaint of the foul smell, and more than 15 months since it was determined to come from the composting facility of Les Produits Agricole Ouellet of St. Hilaire, New Brunswick, directly across the St. John River from the Maine town.

The site is a huge compost pile of chicken manure, which comes from poultry barns owned by the farm. It is mixed with sawdust and chemicals while it turns into compost.

The pile, which sits on a cement pad where leachate is collected and reintroduced into the process as the pile dries, is more than 200 feet across, according to Benoit Dumond, mayor of St. Hilaire.

One report, released on June 20, recommended the installation of a dome or roof over the exterior facility and the addition of a biochemical filter that would control at least 95 percent of the fumes. Announced by New Brunswick Finance Minister Jeannot Volpe, the plan was estimated to cost $625,000.

But nothing has been done by Canadian environmental officials, the mayor said Tuesday.

“Minister Volpe asked the municipality to help financially with the costs,” Dumond said. “He told us the [Canadian] federal government is working on the problem, but they have no money.

“The province said they would help if the town does,” Dumond said. “We are only a small municipality, and we don’t have extra money.”

The owner of the facility has filed notice with the town that he intends to sue it for defamation. Dumond said the town will not take on any additional expenses involving the issue until the threat of lawsuits is removed.

Like Levesque, Dumond said the odor has been limited this summer. He wondered what will happen when the weather gets colder, and the manure cannot be disposed of by spreading it on land.

Volpe could not be reached Tuesday. His office did not return phone messages.

Earlier this summer, there were reports of the dumping of E. coli-laced leachate from the facility. Dumond said that has been stopped.