The City of Calgary has been pursuing court action against the recycling and landfill facility where firefighters continue to deal with a fire that’s causing air quality issues.

Calgary firefighters continue to battle a complex fire at the Ecco recycling facility in southeast Calgary, requiring heavy equipment and round-the-clock monitoring.

On Monday afternoon, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas confirmed that the City of Calgary had been pursuing court action against Ecco, and that the courts had ruled that the company was to stop storing dry waste at its site.

“The court found Ecco was violating its development permit at its recycling facility by storing dry waste there; the court ordered Ecco to stop storing that waste and remove it immediately,” he said.

Farkas said that the ruling applied to the recycling site but it didn’t include the landfill site where the fire was continuing to burn.

“Our legal action on that, too, is continuing,” he said.  

“The city is seeking a separate court injunction because we’ve determined that Ecco continues to accept waste at the landfill contrary to its development permit, so we’re asking the court to order Ecco to stop operating the dry waste landfill and decommission the site as required by its permit.”

The Calgary Fire Department said that they’ve continued to apply water and are smothering the burning material in the landfill with soil. Heavy equipment is being used to reach fires that are burning deep within the landfill site.

Equipment was also used Sunday night and into Monday to improve road access to the area, allowing crews to move equipment through the area.

“Landfill fires are complex and can take considerable time to fully extinguish because of the volume and variety of materials involved,” fire officials said.

“We appreciate the patience of Calgarians as crews work to safely resolve this incident.”

Air quality remains a concern

Fire officials also said that the Government of Alberta is monitoring air quality in the area.

On Monday, Alberta Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, Grant Hunter, said that protecting the health and safety of Albertans is their highest priority.

“Within hours of receiving a request for assistance from the Calgary Fire Department, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas deployed environmental experts, a mobile air monitoring lab and additional monitoring equipment to assess air quality around and downwind of the fire,” he said.

He said that monitoring continues, and for the general Calgary population, the available monitoring data suggests that there is a low overall risk to residents’ health.

“The greatest potential for exposure has been in areas directly downwind of the fire during periods of elevated smoke concentrations,” Hunter said.

“Individuals with underlying heart or lung conditions, older adults, young children and pregnant individuals may experience temporary symptoms such as eye or throat irritation, cough or worsening of existing respiratory conditions.”

The Calgary southeast air quality station is providing continuous readings to calculate hourly Air Quality Index ratings. The Environment and Protected Areas mobile air monitoring lab is being repositioned to track smoke coverage and maintain smoke coverage of the plume from the landfill, the province said.

“Alberta’s public health officials reviewed the air-quality data collected by EPA. PM2.5 exceedances have occurred intermittently rather than continuously, with some monitoring periods reaching concentrations comparable to the high-risk category of the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI),” said Hunter.

“Elevated concentrations have generally been localized and influenced by changing plume and wind conditions. No other exceedances of health-based thresholds have been identified to date.”

Mayor Farkas said that he appreciated the work of the Coun. Rob Ward to help address the concerns of area residents.

“I want Calgarians, especially nearby residents, to know this: We heard your concerns,” he said.

“We’re taking them seriously, and the city is using all legal and enforcement tools available to hold operators accountable and protect our communities.”