Representatives of the Natural Resources Conservation Board say they're working with Rimrock Feeders to alleviate the smell that wafts into High River almost daily.

Kevin Seward says he's personally answered many calls, spoken to people on the street and in parks in the town and has been to Rimrock Feeders.

He says the NRCB believes the runoff from pens makes its way into catch basins and the feedlot's working to clean them out.

"We have found that when we've been on site that it's been a different odour that is a more pungent odour, but odour is very subjective, one odour  to one person is different than the same odour to another person," Seward says.

He says when they get complaints they work to get more details.

Kevin Seward (left) and Denny Puszkar with the NRCBKevin Seward (left) and Denny Puszkar with the NRCB

"We try and find out one, how bad is the odour and two, when does it happen because once we find out how bad it is and when it's happened then we can go to the operator and say 'ok what are you doing during that time frame', so if everybody says it smells really bad from seven o'clock at night to ten o'clock at night then we'll go to the operator and say ok, what's happening at your operation from seven to ten' and we've done that"

He says NRCB officials have been at the feedlot and are focusing on the catch basins, getting them pumped out and cleaned out and seeing if that will help reduce the odour but the weather is also a contributing factor they won't be able to compare what happened this past summer until the same conditions return next summer.

One resident, Darwin Robinson says something has to be done.

"We want to be able to have a quality of life in this town that allows people to come visit to go golf, to come to our campsites to walk around town and not have to wear a clothes pin on your nose, 7-24," Robinson says. "This summer was ridiculous, like we get summer for what, three months in Alberta here, well this summer has been destroyed, last summer was better, 2020 wasn't good, so what's the future hold?"

He says the biggest frustration is that they want someone to champion this cause for them.

Darwin Robinson says High River residents are frustrated with the runaroundDarwin Robinson says High River residents are frustrated with the runaround

"It's a little frustrating that city council, and I understand their position, they don't have the authority to stop anything, but they've got 15,000 taxpayers in this town that are being directly impacted by this stench that's affecting our quality of life," he says. "The County washes their hands of it basically saying , even though they allotted the permits and the water rights they didn't have to do that, they decided to do that and they're getting all the taxes and the benefits of it, they point you to the NRCB and all they can do is take a look at what the Act allows them to do."

He says High River has gone from the town that floods to the town that stinks.