The Calgary Airport Authority said it’s taking steps to reduce or eliminate the odour coming from a northeast de-icing fluid retention pond, but a fix is still two years away.
The matter came up during the Calgary Airport Authority’s 2024 annual report, delivered by CEO Chris Dinsdale, at the April 29 Regular Meeting of Calgary city council.
When questions came up on the report, Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal asked about the ponds along 36 Street NE and what’s being done to reduce the smell. He said it’s something he’s heard about regularly from residents over the past three years. Two-and-a-half years ago, Dhaliwal said they were told engineering studies were being done on a solution.
“But every time I drive by there, we can still smell it, especially now, with the breakup season coming up,” he said.
When airplanes are de-iced at the Calgary International Airport, those liquids end up in a retention pond, according to Dinsdale, who spoke to media after he delivered the report. He said those fluids aren’t allowed to be drained back into open water sources, like a river, so it’s held in ponds.
“In the winter, everything’s frozen. Now, in the spring, it thaws out, and then it starts to decompose anaerobically, and it creates that rotten egg smell,” he said.
“Communities, or I wouldn’t even say communities, but households that are very close to the perimeter of the fence, when the wind is in a certain direction, a certain time of year, can smell it, which is not acceptable, absolutely.’
Dinsdale said the Calgary Airport Authority spends about $1 million annually dealing with the issue already. Now they’re prepared to make an $8 million investment to fix the problem long-term.
The solution involves flushing the area
There’s a processing facility on site, but Dinsdale said that it’s not able to keep up with the demand.
The first million dollars of the project will be spent this year, Dinsdale said. The bulk of the cost will come next year. The plan is to flush the ponds and make sure the problem is dealt with for the future.
“It’s a long-term issue that’s been there, and the first parts of that project are just starting now,” Dinsdale said.
“I think realistically, it’s going to be two construction seasons to get it dealt with… and then it should be solved.”
Dinsdale noted that it’s a problem that most airports in the world have to deal with. Calgary’s semi-arid climate adds to the problem, he said.
“If you’re in an environment with a lot more rain, it gets flushed out, it gets diluted,” he said.
“You don’t have that problem here; we’re semi-arid, and so it compounds, it concentrates it. But that’s the problem we need to deal with and we are.”
Coun. Dhaliwal encouraged nearby residents in Martindale, Falconridge, and Castleridge to note that a solution was in the works.
“It’s a small number of residents, but this is their home, of course, so this is the quality of life, and they shouldn’t have to go through that,” he said.
