On Friday morning, July 4, Rob Lamont of Snow White Laundry in Industrial Park told Black Press Media he'd begun to smell something fishy 香蕉视频直播� or rather, fleshy.
According to Lamont, a semi-tractor-trailer transporting aluminum-wrapped raw meat product crashed along the Trans-Canada Highway near Revelstoke and spilled an unknown amount of commercial animal flesh.
Though some cleanup of the meaty mess was performed on scene, the 50-foot semi and excess spoiled flesh were brought down Powerhouse Road and parked at Ben's Towing 香蕉视频直播� right behind Snow White.
"It just started smelling horrible, worse and worse," said Lamont, who started to notice murders of crows and a kettle of turkey vultures circling the site.
Snow White, which has 22 staff, had some employees unable to come into work due to the intolerable stench. Lamont, who said the city's bylaw office was notified about the odour, described the meat malodour lingering nearly half a kilometre between the FortisBC yard and Home Hardware Building Centre.
Between the two businesses, staff at United Rentals and East End Auto Body Shop said they hadn't noticed any meat-like scent, though they noted it was likely because they're accustomed to the whiff of the city's nearby wastewater treatment plant.
However, at United Floors (Revelstoke), which sits kitty-corner to Ben's Towing and closer to where the semi was parked, manager Colby Russell shared that he'd caught a whiff of something out of the ordinary from the usual sewage smell at the end of last week. While he said he "honestly couldn't put a finger on it" at the time, the fact that a trailer filled with rotting meat had been sitting nearby seemed plausible to Russell as the source.
When contacted by Black Press Media, a Salmon Arm spokesperson for Ben's Towing said the company wasn't responsible for or directly connected to this meat-filled truck, but that another spokesperson was asked to reach back out to Black Press Media with more information.
In a statement from the City of Revelstoke, development services manager Kenny Gipps reported that municipal bylaw officers responded to a "complaint regarding a noxious odour" in Industrial Park.
"Upon investigation, Officers identified the source of the smell and worked collaboratively with the property owner to achieve compliance through the removal of food products responsible for the odour in a timely manner," Gipps said.
But besides the suffocating smell, Lamont said he observed a lack of cleanup liability at the outset and raised concerns about incidents such as this becoming bear attractants.
"Are we a bear-aware town?" he asked. "If we're going to be bear aware, you're not going to be having rotting meat everywhere."
Kait Nicol, executive director of Revelstoke Bear Aware, confirmed by email that even just the smell of fermenting meat "is definitely a concern and a bear attractant."
"The protocol for this is to inform the bylaw office and the conservation service," Nicol added.
