Contaminated wastewater leaking from the Sandher Fruit Packers plant.
Image Credit: Submitted/Ministry of Environment
February 14, 2024 - 7:00 AM
A fruit packing plant in the Ellison area east of the Kelowna airport is leaching chemicals from its failing wastewater treatment plant and has been doing so for years.
In March 2017, the Ministry of Environment issued its first warning letter to Sandher Fruit Packers at 3231 Old Vernon Road near Scotty Creek Road.
In August 2019, an inspector responded to a complaint about water in the ditch next to the plant and was told it came from a broken irrigation line that had by that time been repaired.
During the visit the inspector saw that wastewater from the plant was being discharged into an unlined storage lagoon and there was wastewater on the ground around a chilling machine that was not going into the lagoon.
While the company had applied for an effluent discharge permit in March of 2018, it wasn't finalized.
As a result in 2022, Sandher was fined $32,000 for discharging wastewater into a septic system and disposal field without authorization from Aug. 17, 2019 to April 12, 2022.
On Jan. 8, 2024, the site was inspected by the Ministry of Environment again in response to another complaint and found “the runoff of the failing wastewater treatment system was observed collecting in the disposal field.”
The inspector was told that a maximum of 57,120 litres per day of wastewater could be produced by the plant and it operated five days a week.
The plant manager listed four chemicals used in the processing of fruit, including Phosphoric acid, a common chemical used in processed foods.
Sodium hypchlorite is a liquid bleach, Acidx Dual is a cleaner used to remove natural wax to prepare food for an edible coating. That coating, also present in the wastewater, is Sheilf-Brite AP450, which is used to make apples shine, according to Pace International.
The inspection report is recommending another fine be issued to Sandher for the period from January 5, 2022, to January 8, 2024.
“Sandher had been found discharging wastewater into a failing septic system and an unlined lagoon while operating without an authorization... during four previous inspections,” the report said. “Sandher, despite previous inspection reports, has not ceased operations to prevent introducing waste into the environment and has continued to discharge waste."
The inspector also recommended that Sandher either stop discharging the waste or get proper authorization to do so.
“During the on-site inspection, the plant manager confirmed with Ministry staff that the facility would be expanding and advised an area in the south west corner of the property, which would be the area for a new disposal field,” the report says.
Neither the Ministry of Environment nor Sadher responded to requests for interviews by iNFOnews.ca.
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