Sarnia residents want action after complaining about bad odours

Sarnia’s mayor has asked the environment ministry to do something about a strong odour in several neighbourhoods. CTV London’s Nick Paparella explains.

After receiving numerous complaints from residents in his community, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley wrote an urgent letter to the Ministry of the Environment asking them to deal with bad smells because of, “The persistent and nauseating odours that have recently affected several areas of our city.”

He went on to say, “These odours are not acceptable in a modern community.”

Mayor Bradley told CTV News London, “People are calling us and saying they are getting sick, I’ve even had people leaving city hall the other day and it just overwhelmed them.”

In the letter, Bradley specifically points the finger at Wessuc Inc., a plant which specializes in biosolids management.

However, the ministry responded to CTV News London saying that the Wessuc plant is not to blame for the smell.

In an email, the province said, “The site has not received any material since May of 2024. The onsite lagoon was cleaned out in November of 2024.”

The ministry of the Environment concluded, “The odours were consistent with the spreading of manure, a common agricultural practice.”

Bradley said he respects that fact that there are farms surrounding the city, “We have about 150 farms and farms all around us. But at the same time if they are the cause of all this there’s got to be some way of mitigating it.”

The mayor said this has been an ongoing issue for years and he’s hoping something can be done, adding, “It’s not fair to people if they can’t be in their backyards or they can’t be walking on the streets without being overwhelmed by these odours.”