Composting smell sickens Whyte Ridge family

People living in Winnipeg's Whyte Ridge neighbourhood are complaining about the smell being given off by a business owner's efforts to go green.

Brent Bell and his family on Royal Oak Drive are extremely wary of the wind's direction lately.

He said if it shifts to the west, a scent akin to horse manure and garbage wafts into his yard.

The smell comes from composting piles kept by a gardening-supply company that's a few hundred metres from his home.

Samborski Gardening Supplies collects waste from about 150 local businesses and composts it for sale to city gardeners.

The smell, Bell said, is at its worst when the company overturns the piles once a month.

"It's just absolutely putrid," Bell said.

'Shutting down is not the answer. Helping us make it a better program is the answer.' —Lenn Samborski

He's been meeting with other concerned residents and thinks the company should have to have a licence that specifies how they dispose of waste and prevent environmental contamination.

But Bell said he's not against composting.

"I think it's great, but I think it has its place and I don't think that place is where [it's] at now," he said.

Lenn Samborski, who owns the gardening company, said he realizes the situation isn't ideal, but said stopping the composting isn't a solution. He's been doing it for the past two years.

"Shutting down is not the answer. Helping us make it a better program is the answer," Samborski said, adding he's helping divert a large amount of waste that would otherwise be buried at a landfill.

The businessman said he's trying to move to a site near the Brady Road Landfill but is waiting for approval from the province and officials from the Rural Municipality.