As a fire at a private landfill in southeast Calgary continues to burn into its second week, a judge has ruled Ecco Recycling & Energy Corporation breached the city’s land use bylaw, development permit (DP) and the Municipal Government Act (MGA) by allowing a large pile of recycling waste to accumulate at its facility. While the decision comes as the landfill site is actively burning, the ruling is related to recycling material and comes amid a years-long fight between the city and operator that precedes the current blaze. The decision was released on Sept. 11 by Justice James Eamon in which he orders Ecco to remove all waste material from its recycling site. The decision applies only to the operator’s recycling facility, but the city is still pursuing separate legal action related to the landfill site and another separate filing requesting Ecco discontinue the dry waste landfill, Mayor Jeromy Farkas said on Monday. “The only reasonable conclusion from the evidence is that Ecco willingly refused to comply with the stop order, the DP, the land use bylaw, and the MGA relating to the use of the Ecco site for waste accumulation and storage and in fact, flouted these requirements for a significant period of time,” Justice Eamon wrote in his decision. “The history of the matter clearly demonstrates an open and continuous disregard by Ecco of these requirements which are unlikely to be thwarted without the intervention of the Court.” The judge denied the city’s request to lock the company out of the property and its application to collect daily penalties from Ecco for breaking the rules. Ecco has refused multiple interview requests from CTV News about the current fire and a spokesperson for the company has not yet responded to questions about Friday’s court ruling. In a written statement released on Friday, Ecco Recycling’s CEO and President Alec McDougall said the company is requesting the fire be investigated as a possible act of arson. “ECCO understands that smoke can be concerning and that even when air-quality readings are within applicable guidelines, smoke and odour can cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat and other temporary symptoms,” the statement reads in part. “We take those concerns seriously and encourage residents to follow the advice of Calgary Fire Department and health authorities.” The mayor commended the fire department on its work to battle the blaze, but says a full investigation into how this happened needs to happen after the active emergency situation is resolved. “I think it’s premature for us to be able to speculate on whether the rules were followed,” Farkas said Monday morning. “But if the rules were not followed, I’m certainly going to be seeking maximum accountability for the individual operator who may have been accountable (for the landfill fire) and if, it was found that no rules have been broken, I think we need to be reviewing whether the existing rules as they apply are appropriate,” the mayor added. Seeking provincial air quality reports The Calgary Fire Department worked through the weekend to keep the landfill fire contained and has brought in heavy equipment to uncover burning material. In a statement from officials on Saturday, the fire department said contractors have also been brought in to dump large volumes of dirt on the fire in order to smother the flames. “This process has proved to be effective, and efforts are underway to speed up this process. This support will continue until the fire is fully extinguished,” the statement from CFD reads. Meantime, the mayor and a city councillor have written to the provincial government to step in and release air quality testing results from the area. “Residents have experienced smoke and odours for several days, and many have reported irritation of their eyes, throats and lungs,” reads the letter co-signed by Mayor Jeromy Farkas and Ward 11 Coun. Rob Ward. “They are understandably concerned about the air they have been breathing and whether the exposure could have longer-term health implications.” The letter to Grant Hunter, Alberta’s Minister of Environment, requests a release of all available air quality testing results from monitoring locations near the Ecco facility. The mayor says a meeting between the province and city is expected to take place on Monday afternoon. The letter also requests the provincial ministry to compile an assessment from “Alberta’s health authorities addressing immediate symptoms and potential longer-term health risks.”
