Over the past few months, residents of Ryley and Beaver County have shared concerns related to odours in the region. As the operators of both a landfill and compost facility in the community, our team understands that even small odours can be disruptive. We want to assure our neighbours that we hear these concerns.

Claystone takes full responsibility for odours from our operations, including the landfill, compost, and supporting infrastructure. There have been previous odour releases from the compost facility, which we were able to identify and resolve using our monitoring systems that continuously measure oxygen levels and temperatures. We have also dealt with particularly odorous material coming to the landfill, and our crews did their best to mitigate the odours by covering the loads immediately and combining with other inert waste types to contain the odour.

However, some odours are simply out of our control.

In May of this year, and throughout the summer, we noted strong odours that were consistent with an anaerobic sewage lagoon. The Village of Ryley sewage lagoon is located immediately south of the Claystone Administration building and, given the persistent and increasing odour, we notified the Village of Ryley of our concerns.

Following their investigation, the Village confirmed there were issues with the sewage lagoon and later in the pump station, including a broken pressurized line coming from the pump itself that was leaking material to the ground surface. The Village of Ryley CAO shared this information on the Ryley Today Facebook Group, accepting responsibility for the persistent odours. During the week of October 6, we were advised that Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA) confirmed the source of the odours was the lagoon. We understand that it may be difficult for some residents to accept this information. We will do our best to communicate with you more regularly to help build your trust in us.  

Understanding the Bigger Picture

Odour management is complex and can be influenced by multiple factors beyond any one organization’s control. Along with the Claystone facility, odours in the area can and have been attributed to other landfill operations, industrial facilities in the area, and farming operations, including manure spreading and stockpiling of silage (which smells very similar to compost).

There are other environmental causes for odours, including water bodies such as ponds and dugouts. Weather conditions, such as temperature inversions or wind direction, can trap and carry odours, intensifying similar odour generation that can smell like landfill or compost facilities.

Another contributor is our active landfill cell. Odour molecules from loads dropped at higher altitude have a greater chance of being picked up by air currents and carried downwind. Many residents have noted they have not smelled the landfill over past decades, but the volume of intake and composition of material in the landfill has changed significantly in recent years and the current landfill has also increased in elevation. All of these factors can change the intensity, duration and spread of landfill-based odours.

That said, as an active landfill and compost facility, we acknowledge that there may be odours caused by our operations from time to time.

We are also constantly learning from experts on ways to further refine and improve our processes. Composting is a science, and we have staff members with microbiology, biochemistry, and engineering degrees actively engaged in our compost operations and continually reviewing alternative systems and technologies to improve our facility’s best practices. The quality of our final product has improved as well, and we are proud to continue to offer it to local residents free of charge.

What We’re Doing

As a company dedicated to environmental responsibility and being a good neighbour, we continue to take proactive steps to manage odours and minimize impacts for those who live and work near our facilities.

Our composting and landfill operations are monitored every day, and we’re always looking for new ways to improve the data we collect. Some of the measures we’ve implemented to help monitor and reduce odour levels include:

• Rigorous Scent Check Monitoring: Conducting daily “scent checks” at key areas and recording both results and weather information to help identify trends and guide corrective action.
• Weather Monitoring: Onsite weather station that monitors meteorological data to provide direction for process improvements, enhancements, and day to day operations.
• Continuous Operational Refinements: Regularly refining our composting process including trialing new equipment and adjusting ratios of bulking agents and amendments to address the different chemistry of organics brought into the site at various times of the year.
• Odour Neutralization: We have recently completed the trial of a product used at other landfill facilities known as Ecosorb. This device has proven effective in small areas and we are moving forward with the detailed design and installation of a system that includes piping around the perimeter of the composting facility. Ecosorb is proven to reduce odour emissions in a variety of industries and is safe for humans and the environment. It is a product based on plant-based essential oils and does not just mask odours – it reacts with odour molecules to neutralize them permanently. Once installed, it will act as the “last line of defence” to address any odour releases. As the Ecosorb system requires a delivery system and above ground piping to operate in our Alberta weather year-round, engineered designs and permitting are required prior to construction. As such it will take some time to have this system installed and operating but the process has already begun.

Our Commitment to the Community

At Claystone, we take our responsibility to the community seriously. We live and work here too.

We take pride in our work, and we take our jobs seriously. What we do at our facility impacts our community, friends and family.

We know that odour can be highly disruptive to daily life, and continue to work closely with residents, community partners, and the Village of Ryley and Beaver County to identify all contributing factors to the odour concerns. Addressing challenges like this is a shared responsibility, and we’ll keep communicating openly and taking every step within our control to support the well-being of Ryley and Beaver County residents.

We also recognize there is a lack of trust in Claystone, and we are committed to addressing this by communicating more regularly with you about our operations. This includes a new section on our website where we will post our daily odour checks and the results of AEPA inspections of our facilities. You can find this information at www.claystonewaste.com/odours.

We are also increasing our staffing resources in 2026 to include a full-time employee who will manage our main phone line and help address questions and concerns from the public.

We will also continue to engage third party professionals to support our operations in providing testing and sampling programs. This will ensure environmental compliance of our landfill and compost operations with AEPA guidelines and will help us identify opportunities to refine our processes and minimize community impact.

Reporting a Concern

Should you wish to report concerns, we encourage you to send them using our online Odour Issues – Customer Service Opportunity Form, available on our website at: www.claystonewaste.com/resident-information. 

If you have questions or feedback on our efforts to better share information with the community and address your concerns, you can reach out directly by emailing us at info@claystonewaste.com. Your input will help us act quickly and remain transparent about what we’re doing to address the issue.