Town Taking Action to Address Odour Concerns at Main Street Pollution Control Plant

Penetanguishene, ON - The Town of Penetanguishene is aware of recent odour concerns reported by residents in the area surrounding the Main Street Pollution Control Plant and would like to provide an update on the situation and the actions being taken to resolve it.

Over the past several weeks, the Pollution Control Plant has experienced unusually high wastewater flows caused by significant snowmelt and rainfall. At times, flows exceeded more than double the plant’s normal operating capacity. While the plant continued to operate safely and no wastewater bypass occurred into Georgian Bay, the sustained high flows reduced the amount of time wastewater is retained in the treatment process. As a result, biosolids were not fully processed, leading to odours coming from storage and treatment tanks.

Town Wastewater Operations staff have been actively working to mitigate these impacts. A large volume of odour-causing biosolids has been removed from the plant’s storage tanks, which has improved aeration inside the tanks and reduced odour generation. This removal process continued over the last several days. While some temporary odours may have been noticeable during the loading and transport of material, this work was necessary to create additional storage capacity and improve treatment conditions.

As of Friday, April 17, the additional sludge removal has been completed. Ongoing removal and management of biosolids will continue to ensure that storage tanks are properly aerated and operating as intended.

In addition to these efforts, operational adjustments have been made within the plant, including the introduction of a new odour-mitigating product that was added to the storage tanks earlier this week. Wastewater Operations staff report that this product is already performing well and has resulted in noticeable reductions in odour emissions.

Addressing odour concerns at the Main Street Pollution Control Plant remains a top priority for Town staff. The situation will continue to be closely monitored, and further actions will be taken as needed to minimize impacts on the surrounding community.

The Town recognizes the impact this has had on the community and thanks residents for their patience as staff remain actively focused on addressing and preventing further odour concerns.