Deputy Mayor unimpressed with Champion Petfoods presentation

Champion Petfoods President and CEO Frank Burdzy receives a certificate from Morinville Deputy Mayor Paul Krauskopf during the June 15 Standing Committee of Morinville Town Council. Burdzy’s company had recently installed a $500,000 plasma-injector system to mitigate the odour from its cooking process. Four months later the odour is still an issue for Morinville residents. – File Photo

By Stephen Dafoe

Morinville – Deputy Mayor Paul Krauskopf had some harsh words for Champion Petfoods President and CEO Frank Burdzy Tuesday night, urging the head of the local manufacturing plant to return to Morinville Town Council in January of 2011 with some concrete solutions on what the plant was doing to mitigate the smell emanating from its stacks.

Burdzy had come to the Oct. 26 council meeting to respond to a public delegation concerned about the plant’s odour and to answer questions from council members. Burdzy’s appeal included a PowerPoint presentation on who and what the company was, its standing in its industry and among business, and the company’s desire to be a good corporate citizen within Morinville.

“That good corporate citizen and trust has gone out the door, as far as I’m concerned,” Krauskopf told Burdzy, adding the quality of life for many Morinville residents had gone out the door along with it.

The Deputy Mayor went on to chastise the company for its plan to move its offices and some warehousing from Morinville to Edmonton while leaving the smell behind. “That’s a slap in the face,” Krauskopf said.

Burdzy defended the company’s decision as being one necessary, given the limited footprint the factory has in Morinville. The Champion president said an additional 115,000 square feet of warehouse space was needed to meet demands for its product and that to build additional warehouse space in Morinville would take six to eight months.

Prior to Champion’s presentation, council heard from two Morinville residents: Lucas Perry and Matthew Christopher, both of whom were concerned about Champion’s contribution to Morinville’s air quality.

Emissions from the Champion Pet Food Plant in Morinville were a concern during the election that carried over tot he first regular meeting of Morinville's new council.
Perry said he grew up in Morinville, attended the University of Alberta, and had since moved back to Morinville with his wife and two daughters. The Morinville father said he had many fond memories of growing up here.

“One of my fond memories is of smelling the start of a fresh rain at the start of a storm,” Percy said, adding his fear was his daughters’ memories would be the smell of dog food.

Percy said over the summer he had to bring barbecue guests indoors because the smell of the plant was overpowering the smell of the meat he was cooking on his barbecue. Additionally, the complainant told council he had to have his windows closed on what he regarded as the hottest day of the summer.

But for Percy, the smell is not merely associated with life in his and his neighbour’s yards. “Driving here, I could smell Morinville before I could see Morinville,” he said, adding he wonders how great an effect it is having on local businesses and those looking to sell homes in Morinville. “We’re paying with the very air we breathe.”

Beyond the economic and social concerns, Percy said he was concerned that what is coming out of the plant’s stacks may be harmful to residents, something Champion has denied, stating the emissions are purely the normal process of cooking their natural ingredients and that they add no chemicals in the manufacturing process.

“We’re made to breathe oxygen not the off gases of industry,” Percy told council, noting that what has often been deemed to have no effect on a person’s health is often found to be quite harmful at some future point. “Champion, left to their own devices, is not coming up with a solution.”

Percy suggested council take a zero-tolerance approach to emissions and odours, setting meaningful fines for violators and stopping new developments or expansions of old until compliance had been proven.

It was a point of view shared by fellow complainant Matthew Christopher, who told council that as a husband with two dogs, only half of the family agreed the smell coming from Champion was an acceptable thing.

Christopher advocated council to come up with a strong air quality bylaw for Morinville with escalating fines that would make it financially unviable for businesses to pollute the community’s air.

Like Percy, Christopher said he was concerned with possible health issues, stating he was not concerned with the particulate matter coming out of Champion’s stacks as much as he was with the volatile Organic compounds (VOC).

Christopher told council that during the election campaign it had been brought up several times that council and administration had been working closely with Champion, and he called on council to provide residents with a time line of action items that have gone on up to this point.

Responding to the residents’ concerns, Burdzy told council the odour is not something Champion wished to ignore and that he had come to give further information and to clarify some misconceptions that had been raised during the election campaign. Chief among them was the notion that the $500,000 plasma-injector system the plant installed in June was broken and the company did not wish to repair it.

“We’ve been at it every single week,” the president said of his company’s interaction with the system’s manufacturer to tweak the existing system. As well as looking at other technologies to help mitigate the odour. “I accept and acknowledge we are not in an ideal situation. We’re not resting on that.”

One area of concern to Burdzy is the fact that the estimated 80 per cent mitigation rate that had been hoped for when the company’s plasma-injector system was installed last spring has not been realized. “I’m not satisfied that we are there,” he said, adding the company had been told 80 per cent mitigation rates were achievable.

While just how close the company will be able to get to hat number remains to be seen, Burdzy said it is unlikely that 100 per cent mitigation would be possible because he had yet to see any technology capable of that. The Champion president said there would be some fluctuations in the odour, depending on high and low air pressure, wind direction and even plant related issues, including ambient odour from the opening of warehouse doors.

The Champion president said while the company, historically, has not gone seeking public feedback, they were hoping to organize a series of open houses to give residents an opportunity to look at the operation themselves.

Councillor David Pattison said he was impressed with the company’s awards of recognition for the quality of their product, but felt Champion’s real challenge would be in trying to obtain awards for its emission standards.

Deputy Mayor Krauskopf seemed less impressed in hearing about the company’s accolades. Krauskopf said he wanted the president to return to council in January, giving him some pointed specifics as to what he did and did not want to hear at that time.

“I don’t want to hear about awards,” Krauskopf said. “I want to hear something concrete.”

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20 Comments

  1. All well and good, but I STILL have yet to hear of any potential consequences to Champion if they DON’t sort out the problem.

    Once again, we (the Town of Morinville and our elected representatives) appear to be all bark and no bite!

    When will we have the intestinal fortitude to actually DO something about this situation?

  2. Thanks for the great article. The more times we show that our council is not willing to do anything other than to continue to wait for Champion the better. For instance while telling Champion that the scent issue is not fixed, all they are asking for is feedback and additional numbers in Jan. No action has been taken by anyone thus far.

    All of this should be irrelevant. The council outside of any dealings with Champion should take steps for resolving the issue on the town timeline as opposed to the Champion one. To higher a full time PR person would be cheaper than some of the remediation technologies. Therefore it is in Champions best financial interest at present to continue to drag out the issue as it would be cheaper to have a full time lip service person. This needs to change.

    Maybe if more willing people ask to talk about the issue at the next council meeting, something will get done to resolve the issue? It seems that I failed but maybe someone could bring a few thousand signatures in a petition to write a strong air quality bylaw?

  3. People need to keep in mind that if Champion petfoods leaves Morinville that not only will taxes go up to cover the lost revenues curently covered by Champion petfoods, which pays the most taxes in Morinville, but also all of the business they provide locally, the donations given to local groups,products bought locally ie office supplies and so forth. Be carefull of what you wish for you could be very sorry in the end.

  4. Just a further note to point out people. They are also the largest employer in our town. They provide decent working conditions and a very livable wage for their staff. The system they have works it just needs tweeking to get it up to par. I also have been subjected to the smell and its not that bad. I’ve had stronger smells coming from our fields when we spread manure on them. This is not the city folks, You have a housing complex next to the industial area. You knew that when you bought your houses. I for one am glad to have such a strong business that has the ability to employ over a hundred of our residents.

  5. Alberta environment has indicated that the best course of action is to have town council introduce a bylaw to get this under control. The bylaw, would enable financial penalties to be used as an incentive to clean up emissions, with the plat hopefully taking the initative and outpacing the councils ability to implement such a bylaw.

    Also for those that did not attend the council meeting, Champion representatives stated that they are moving their offices and storage facilities to Edmonton, as a result it is likely that they are buying said supplies in Edmonton. But this would be good for plant representatives to comment on.

    Secondly some of us bought houses before Champion started ramping up production with their Orijen line. It also is effecting more than just the South Glenn neighborhood as notre dame, the lakes etc… will all complain just the same. For those who have lived in Morinville for a long time, they will tell you that the smell has steadily gotten worse over the years with a marked worsening in the last few.

    As for being the largest employer in the town that is true, however, relatively speaking the number of employees as stated by the Champion representatives is approx 110, not all of whom live in Morinville, or work at the Morinville plant at any one time. Relatively speaking that is at best 2 % of the 7400 or so people who live in Morinville.

    In the end though I think people are confused. I and the others whom are complaining are not asking the plant to close, move or do anything of the like. What we are asking them to do is to be a clean non polluting member of our community. Most would whole heartedly encourage expansion if they can get the scent issues under control.

  6. A new subdivision was built directly behind an industrial park with a factory that has been there for years. They have been making dog food for years. Most people complaining have just moved to the area and want the largest job provider to move because they did not do their research before they bought their houses. Now they want Champion to fix their own ignorance.
    If you go and live in Sherwood park, you can’t expect the big refinery to move because you don’t like the smell or did not do your research into it. If you do not like the smell….move.
    If Champion just arrived in the community and started producing an off odour, I would understand the argument but they have been here for a long time. Are people going to restrict the development of more land in the industrial park due to them buying houses right next door ?
    The open piece of land on the right hand side before you reach town are zoned light industrial, what will residents do when someone else want to build a new factory that will provide jobs and income for the town?
    Champion provides close to a 100 jobs and continue to expand, keep up your complaints and threats and you will be responsible for a ghost town soon….

  7. The reason Champion is moving there offices is because the town of Morinville wouldn’t give them permits to expand within the town. When you have a multi million dollar company that is growing and you don’t try to accomodate that growth what else are they going to do besides move. Towns are suppose to attract industry to survive without a heavy tax burden on there residents. Look at Ft. Saskatchewan huge industry out there as well as very nice facilities, such the Dow chemical place. How is Morinville going to pay for a rec center without industrial help to pay for it?

  8. @ “Anonymous”:
    This isn’t a South Glens issue, its a townwide issue. The WHOLE TOWN is next to the industrial area.

    Have you been to Notre Dame Elementary School? Or live by the thousands of people there? Notre Dame and Vanier have all our elementary school children there, and it reeks of dog food. That community, which I grew up in, has been there since the 70’s. So actually yes, the Plant did just set up shop and start making its pollution. Unfortunately in ’97 the town didnt have the foresight to put pollution by-laws in place (like many other towns have). Lucky for Champion, not so lucky for the residents.
    I would gladly apply your “who was here first, and if you dont like it move” thinking. Goodbye plant.

    As for the loss of the plant turning us in to a ghost town… are you serious? This town built the most technologically advanced High School in Alberta (if not Canada) before the plant ever came to town. This is a bedroom community, not an industrial hub. The population will stay and commute to work, like it has done for decades.

  9. @ “John”‘s first post:
    This is misinformation. Champion DOES NOT PAY THE MOST TAXES. 93% of the taxes paid in town are by Morinville’s residents. And businesses (plural, not just Champion) pay the remaining 7%. I wont ask you to back-up remarks like “Champion buys stationary locally”, or ask what they donate locally other than dog frisbees. I will point out that much of “big-business charity” is tax-deductible, and a form of cheap advertising. These businesses are, by their nature, self-serving. But this all distracts from the big picture. The issue is the town-wide pollution from the plant, and the affect it has on the families and businesses here.

    I find the scare tactic of “you better be careful, if Champion leaves taxes will go up” a little… hmm… simple. People who lived here before the plant will recall taxes to be lower than St Albert. But I’m not so concerned about paying an extra few thousand in taxes over the course of 10 or 20 years. Its the TENS-of thousands of dollars in reduced property values we should be concerned about. Try and sell a home with the stench of the plant hitting home buyers when they come and go from town–when they are viewing your home. When the economy dips down, which it will, residents will have lost much more than they expected… and home sales will be more than difficult.

    Also, consider that FAMILIES, not Champion foods, are the backbone of this community. We pay the most in taxes, WE, not champion, shop and buy and support local businesses. We need to bring in more families (aka customers) to Morinville. Right now local businesses struggle to attract customers, and our town struggles to attract families. All under a cloud of stench created by Champion pet foods. I’m not blaming them for everything, but this town has a reputation that we cant gloss over. It stinks.

  10. @ “John”‘s second comment:

    You’ve pointed to Ft Saskatchewan as a community we should model ourselves after. Which makes me shudder. First, we do not have the population of Ft Sask. If you believe bringing in more industry to Morinville will mean they’ll all band together and build us a pool… sigh. Perhaps they’ll throw in a rainbow-making machine too. We can’t even get Champion Foods to pay for their own emissions control (The town of Morinville is subsidizing Champion 300,000 dollars over five years for their plasma system).

    I look at places like Ft Sask with caution. Take Sherwood Park for instance, with their giant plant spewing waste in to the air. Sure they have a Rec Center, but they also have an alarmingly high rate of Asthma. Or look at the town of Hinton. Here’s a place that looks beautiful, but the mill there makes it smell like garbage. Whether its storing toxic chemicals, piping waste in to the air, or sending by-products downstream, make no mistake, the people around industry pay a price. The question is what are the people of Morinville willing to pay.

    Just to be clear, I dont necessarily want Champion to move. I want this town to wake up and realize they are losing money in property values while Champion makes money. I want our town to realize that for a pittance, our clean air has been sold out from under us, and that we should do something about it.

  11. Although I can’t speak for every business in town, I know Champion does not support local businesses nearly as much as some people would like us to believe. Also, to those who say the smell is a South Glens problem…. have you been in any other part of town? My mother lives in Sunshine and I can often smell it at her house. I lived on the north end of town and could smell it there. The smell is a Morinville problem, not just the closest section of it. Justifying Champion’s move to Edmonton is just silly at the very least. The Town has done everything they could do as reasonable people to get Champion going in the right direction, in fact they have been too lenient in my mind. As Deputy Mayor Krauskopf said, it’s a slap in the face.

  12. The odour was at it’s usual gag inducing peak this morning. I phoned the Champion Pet Foods to complain and to speak directly with someone there. There was no answer but I was afforded the opportunity to leave a message that “may take up to 2 business days” to be replied. Mr. Krauskopf was bang on – the business is slapping us in the face. I’m willing to wait the two days because I know the air isn’t going to clear by then. Frankly, I couldn’t care less if Champion moved out and took the 100 positions with them, the vast majority of the town commutes and so would most of the employees at Champion, especially since they are such a great business to work for. As for the taxes? Small price to pay so I can take my family outside to use what I already pay for and without the incessant urge to throw-up.

  13. I’d like to state at first that no, I do not live in town but close enough to get the smell like everyone else. But I do work in town and as a matter of fact just downwind from the plant.
    Now to be honest, I give Champion a nod for trying to get this under control. I must admit that compared to spring and summer 2009 the odor has gone down somewhat. My question is how much tweaking will this system requires?
    I’ve had morning at work were the system seems to be working properly with an odor that is bearable to a couple hours later were it becomes truly offensive. I do not believe that it’s due to an increase in production as the same amount of steam is pouring out of the stacks.

    As far as the town not granting expansion permits(someone may correct me if I’m wrong) my understanding is that Champion is currently at their maximum size for the property they occupy.

    So the bottom line is yes it has improved but they still have a long road ahead to become a good corporate citizen.

  14. Some of you people really discust me. Just looking over some of your comments about this “problem” is sickening. Champion petfoods is a business they make and distribute petfood. They have been in Morinville for around 10 years now. Are they not entitled to anything? I personally have worked for Champion and have lived in Morinville for over thirty years. You people complain about how they arnt doing enough for the community but seriously its a business! What business does? How much has the local bars done for us or even the local dentist? NOTHING! I live close to kfc and every morning when I get ready to head to work I smell burnt chicken it sickens me…does this mean I can go complain and have a business shut down? Of course not cause its kfc…even though it smells to some does that mean others arnt entitled to it? From what I understand from champions food making process (which is quite a bit I might add) the smell coming from there smoke stacks is basically a giant bbq. When im sick of smelling my neighbours fried fish every summer does this mean i can complain and have him stop cooking in his back yard? of course not! You people would push for over 100 people to be unemployed…taxes to go up…and a local business to go under (cause we need even more of those in morinville have you taken a look at “main street” lately?). Grow up and deal with a smell that your only able to smell once in a while…who knows maybe its actually kfc your smelling?

  15. Our family has lived in various parts of Morinville for the past ten years and I can say that the smell is definitely worse than when I first moved here. I don’t live in South Glens and you can smell the dog food as far away as Sunshine. Unlike what Kathy said it is not a “once in a while” problem. While I acknowledge the importance of a good tax base and a business that contributes to the local community, coming home to a town that smells like cooking dog food is wrong. Yes, we have to be willing to accept an occasional smell as the cost of having the company here. However, as another respondent said, by procuring offices and storage facilities outside of town, it seems like Champion is making other plans. But the good news is that they likely won’t move to St Albert as the residents there wouldn’t put up with the smell. I know all you people who work there can come up with what seem to be rational reasons (some would say excuses) to justify the company’s emissions. But would you say the same thing if you didn’t work there? People are human, so I doubt it. The fact that the town contributed $300,000 to help fix the problem is wrong: Champion is the sole cause of the problem so they should be bearing the entire cost of fixing it. Unless, of course, they suddenly become interested in profit sharing with the town, which I also doubt. If you work at Champion, the smell is money – if you don’t, like Champion’s attempts to cut emissions, it simply stinks. I can hardly wait to hear their January presentation.

  16. Hi Kathy. I’m glad to see someone from Champion Pet Foods weighing in on this topic. So here’s the gist of what you said:

    “Are they not entitled to anything?”

    Regarding Champion not having community responsibility: “but seriously its a business! What business does?”

    “Some of you people really discust me”

    Sadly, this is what I expected to hear from an employee at Champion. A sense of entitlement, zero community accountability, and no compassion or understanding of your neighbors.

    The fact that you are comparing a back yard barbeque (!?!!) to the plant shows just how distorted the company’s perception is.

    The fact that you’re telling hard-working families to “grow-up”, and shifting all blame away from Champion… simply tragic. You, like Champion, appear to be missing the point.

  17. Here we are January 2011- is the President of Champion Petfoods to speak before Council? “Is there anything concrete” as Councillor Krauskopf requested at the October 26 Council meeting? Or was Council and Petfoods only blowing away the many emissions concerns from the plant.On behalf of many residents of Morinville we are still waiting for a reply.Thankyou.

  18. As per reference to my last comments- Mr. Frank Burdzy, President and CEO Champion Petfoods did speak before Morinville Town Council on Tues Jan. 25th. The proposed action plan by Champion was outlined, with pilot testing and proposed implementation-(if all the equipment and testing results are satisfactory)-by August 2011.
    At the January meeting Deputy Mayor Paul Krauskopf received many accolades with his commitment to the residents of the community- placing them first- and asking for something concrete.This was his campaign promise and he delivered on that promise in January- as well as at last night’s meeting.
    Unfortunately Champion could not deliver anything concrete.They are seeking more information and solutions to the odour from the plant.
    Some people running for Council, who previously did not perceive to take these concerns seriously, appear to be doing more so now.
    So for all the residents waiting for a reply it was delivered,as promised, with thanks to Councillor Krauskopf and now it is a wait and see by Champion and what happens by August 2011.

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