Odours in S.E. Calgary
The City of Calgary is committed to reducing odours in the S.E. area. We work closely with communities and interested parties. The S.E. area includes residential homes and industrial operations.
How to report odours
If you notice an odour issue in your community, please report it as soon as possible to 311.
In the 311 online form, provide extra details in the “Detailed Information” field:
- Exact time you noticed odour (e.g. 1:14 .pm.)
- Location (e.g. 123 52nd Street S.E.)
- How long you noticed the odour for (e.g. about 35 minutes)
All odour service requests are reviewed and used with the odour monitoring system.
Reporting odour issues to 311 provides the odour monitoring system with critical data. Please note that odour can come and go and be very difficult to describe. Reactions to it may be different from person to person.
We thank you for filing a report as this helps evaluate and monitor the ongoing issue.
Odour monitoring system
The City installed an odour monitoring system in S.E. area. This fixed system continuously samples compounds in the air. The system has been collecting data since early 2025.
This data combined with 311 reports submitted by residents helps The City focus our work on finding solutions.
This system was a recommendation from the 2023 S.E. Odour Investigation work which identified multiple potential odour sources.
How the system works
The odour monitoring system consists of over 100 sampling stations surrounding The City’s Shepard operations, including a location at the New Brighton Athletic Park.
Tubing to collect air samples was placed on existing light poles, fence posts, or specially installed towers where needed. The tubing collects air samples at different heights, from 1.5 m (5 feet) to 30 m (100 feet) above ground level. These air samples are fed back to a nearby monitoring station.
The system collects air samples 24/7. It measures levels of certain compounds in the air. This information is combined with weather data from the system’s weather stations. By tracking the wind direction, each inlet can ‘smell’ a certain compound and creates a trail back to the source. When several of these trails cross paths, a source is identified.
This data, alongside resident feedback from 311, allows The City to analyze sources when Calgarians tell us they are being most impacted. This allows The City to target the sources of odours causing the most concern for neighbouring communities.
The monitoring station (seacan) houses sophisticated analyzing equipment to review the air samples.
Tubing is placed on the fence post to collect air samples from the surrounding area.
Odour sources in S.E. Calgary
S.E. communities affected by odours include:
- New Brighton
- McKenzie Towne
- Copperfield
- Douglasdale/Douglasglen
Various sources contribute to odours in the S.E. area. They may occur at the same time or at different times. This includes City of Calgary infrastructure as well as private agricultural and industrial activities in the area (not operated by The City).
No single odour source has been identified to be the biggest contributor of odour in the area.
The City’s priority is its own infrastructure where it has greater control to make a difference for odours in the area.
Key City infrastructure
General
General
What The City is currently working on
- City staff are partnering with S.E. community associations to provide updates as work is completed.
- A series of real-time odour monitoring sensors has been installed around the Shepard area. The system has been collecting data since early 2025. Learn more about the odour monitoring system.
Lagoons
Lagoons
Calgary’s Shepard lagoons are important to our biosolids program. They allow for the recovery and recycling of nutrient-rich organic matter for agricultural purposes.
Biosolids from the wastewater treatment plants are pumped to the Shepard Lagoons. uses this material as a soil conditioner, following the requirements from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas.
What The City is currently working on
- The City is looking into upgrading the misting systems at the lagoons.
- Planting trees around the lagoons is being investigated by The City. City sites have lots of underground infrastructure that could be damaged by planting new trees. This project is being reviewed to assess its costs and potential risks.
Previous mitigations
Operations were modified in Spring 2023 for the dewatered Biosolids storage. Stockpiled material is no longer disturbed for at least 2 weeks whenever possible.
Moving stored material less frequently allows it to form a crust. This causes the material to create less odours when it is moved.
What do odours smell like from this location?
Ammonia, musty, earthy odours
Related links
Composting Facility
Composting Facility
The Calgary Composting Facility is an integral part of the city-wide Green Cart program. It processes around 120,000 tonnes of food and yard waste each year into finished compost.
What The City is currently working on
Facility Expansion
The Composting Facility expansion will add an anaerobic digestion system to support the existing composting process. This will allow the facility to process a larger volume of organics. It is an enclosed system that will help control the odours produced. Bio-gas will also be captured and transformed into renewable natural gas.
Construction is in progress and expected to finish by early 2026. Learn more about the expansion here.
Operational
The biofilter media will be fully replaced by end of 2025.
Facility operations is working to reduce the amount of material on the storage pad. This includes:
- Encouraging customers to pick-up their purchased compost sooner.
- New initiatives to reduce process-by-product on site.
Activity is reduced when winds blow towards communities when possible.
Previous mitigations
The biofilter media was fully replaced in Spring 2023.
The City worked with Jacobs Engineering and the Composting Facility for this project. Work completed included:
- Upgrading the biofilter performance monitoring program.
- Increasing testing frequency.
- Expanding the scope of parameters being monitored.
What do odours smell like from this location?
Acidic, wet vegetation, barnyard, peat, earthy
Related links
Landfill
Landfill
The Shepard Waste Management Facility operates a landfill and other waste disposal services. The facility is primarily used for residential waste.
What The City is currently working on
The Shepard landfill is limiting commercial disposal compared to other City landfills. The City regularly reviews what types of waste are accepted. Opportunities to divert materials away from the landfill are also reviewed.
What do odours smell like from this location?
Garbage-like, sour
Related links
Stormwater
Stormwater
Calgary is home to many storm ponds, wetlands, outfalls and other infrastructure that supports our stormwater management system. Stormwater comes from rainstorms or melting snow. It travels from storm drains in the road to an underground pipe system and ends up in our rivers.
The City manages stormwater infrastructure to reduce:
- The impact of flooding in communities
- Pollution
- Stream erosion in our waterways
What The City is currently working on
Stormwater systems are carefully managed and monitored for odour issues as needed.
What do odours smell like from this location?
Swampy, sulphur-like smell
Related links
Sewer
Sewer
All the water that is flushed down toilets, drained from bathtubs or used for washing dishes and clothes drains into a sewage collection system. This wastewater is carried through sewer pipes to one of The City’s wastewater treatment plants. The City operates around 10,000 kilometres of sewers, 92 pumping plants and three wastewater treatment plants.
What The City is currently working on
The City uses various measures to help control and reduce sewer-related odours including:
- Odour complaint response and investigation
- Sewer construction, repair and routine maintenance
- Chemical addition
- Air withdrawal and treatment from the collection system
- On-going monitoring of sewer air pressure and odour concentration
What do odours smell like from this location?
Sulphur-like smell
Other
Other
There are other odour sources that could be contributing to odours in the area. These sources include, but are not limited to:
- Private businesses
- Wetlands (south and east of the Shepard Complex)
- Other industrial sources
- Agricultural activities east of Stoney Trail
- Various food processing and manufacturing
- Stockyards and livestock processing facilities
- Hydrovac land application
- Manure
What The City is currently working on
The City's main focus is its own infrastructure where it has more control to make changes to combat odours. The City will also engage with outside parties to minimize odours wherever possible.
What do odours smell like from this location?
Wetlands: Swampy, sulphur-like smell
Keep reporting odours to 311
It is important that residents continue to use 311 to report when you are being impacted by odours in your neighbourhood.
Your 311 reports are critical information to be combined with all the other air monitoring and weather data that will be recorded by the monitoring system.
How temperature inversions can impact the S.E. area
Temperature inversions occur all over the city. They can have a significant impact on odours in the S.E. area.
Temperature inversions occur when a ‘layer’ of warmer air settles above cooler air. Warmer air is light, compared to the cool air, which is heavy and dense. This creates a ‘ceiling’ that traps the cooler air close to the surface.
When this happens, the cooler air is not able to move as it normally would. Inversions will also ‘trap’ any odours in S.E. Calgary neighbourhoods and concentrate them closer to the ground. You may also notice ‘smog’ around the city or that everyday smells such as vehicle exhaust seem stronger.
Inversions can also produce poor air quality. This can even result in special air quality statements from Environment Canada. Air quality data from the Calgary Regional Airshed Zone (CRAZ) will also typically show an increase in all monitored compounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did The City allow residential communities to be built near the Shepard area?
The Shepard industrial area was set up in the 1960s. At the time, it was built on the edge of city limits. Over time, expansion into these areas was needed to accommodate residential demand. There are many communities in Calgary that border industrial areas and are good neighbors to each other.
Why is it so hard to detect odours?
Odours are very subjective in nature. What is offensive to one person, may not be for another. Smells are also fleeting and can be difficult to describe. Odours that appear in the area can fade in minutes before it can be reviewed.
What is The City doing to improve the odours in the S.E.?
The City is taking steps to reduce odours from our infrastructure in the area. This includes upgrading existing systems, developing new systems, and improving operations.
The largest project is an odour monitoring system. The system helps us track the most impactful odour sources.
Can we move The City infrastructure to another location?
It is not feasible to move the vital infrastructure in the area, just like it isn’t possible to move all of the homes in the area to another location. This infrastructure is vital for making our city run properly. As neighbours, we will need to work together to improve the situation.
Is there anything harmful in the air?
No. While smells may be strong at times, there is nothing dangerous in the air. The Jacobs investigation returned very low levels of all chemical compounds tested for.
What can be done about private businesses making odours?
Odours from industrial sources are related to air quality regulations. Reducing air pollution requires the involvement of different levels of governments, businesses and organizations to take action. For more information on air quality, please visit our Air Quality page.
How to submit air quality complaints:
Industrial emissions
The provincial government regulates air emissions from industrial sources. Report concerns by calling the Energy & Environment 24-7 Response Line at 1-800-222-6514.
Nuisance smoke and dust
The City prohibits activities that produce smoke, dust or other airborne matter without taking precautions. For more information, please view the Community Standards Bylaw. Report concerns by contacting 311.
What can I do to help improve odours in the neighborhood?
Please continue to report odour issues to 311 by phone or online. Record the date, time, duration and location you noticed the odour. All complaints are reviewed and tracked.
It is very important for The City to continue to receive this feedback for the odour monitoring system. It lets us know if our efforts are making a difference or if new issues are being identified.
I've already reported an odour before. Why do you need me to do it again?
Continuous reporting to 311 is needed to help keep track of odour trends.
Both technology and on-the-ground reporting from Calgarians experiencing odours is needed to provide a full picture of the issue. This data tells us whether our efforts are making a difference or if new issues are being identified.
Will there be an option to report odours on the 311 app?
All odour concerns are submitted to the same 311 service request. Odour concerns related to sewage, gas, or fuel leaks are given higher emergency priority. App requests would delay the emergency odour review as there are limitations to the 311 app.
Please continue to report odour issues to 311 by phone or online.
Will the odours ever be gone?
Odours are natural for a growing and busy city. They can be found in all quadrants of Calgary. The City works to minimize odours where possible to maintain quality of life for residents. Occasional odours, while unwelcome, are not be unexpected.
Other links
- Calgary Regional Airshed Zone (CRAZ) conducts independent air quality monitoring and provides real-time information on common air pollutants by quadrant.
S.E. Odour Investigation project
Through 2022 and 2023, The City of Calgary worked with Jacobs Engineering to investigate the issues around odours in the S.E. area. The investigation primarily focused on City-operated facilities where it has greater control to impact odours.
The goals of the third-party project were:
To determine where odours may be coming from and what activities from those sites might be contributing to them;
To provide The City with an air sampling and dispersion modelling program to assist in identifying significant odour sources
To review the current odour control measures at the sites and recommend odour control measures to City-operated facilities to reduce impacts to the surrounding area.
Project phases
Task 1 – Preliminary Investigation
Jacobs conducted a preliminary analysis looking at a:
- Data review consisting of 311 complaint data, weather conditions, wind direction and other factors.
- Site review including field odour measurements.
This helped to identify potential odour sources for further investigation.
Task 2 – Air Monitoring
Air sampling was conducted from odour sources identified in Task 1 to look for odour “fingerprints” to be compared with air samples collected from affected neighbourhoods. This air sampling also measured odour intensity to be used in Task 3. The odour fingerprinting was inconclusive, in that no compounds detected in affected neighbourhoods matched uniquely to any specific odour source.
The data gathered can be used for computer modelling and the development of future, additional monitoring.
Task 3 – Air Dispersion Computer Modelling
Using the odour intensity results of the Task 2 air sampling, Jacobs developed an odour dispersion computer model to identify different scenarios for the frequency, intensity, duration, and location of odour impacts in the S.E. communities identified. The computer modelling shows how the odour disperses, and how strong it is as it moves away from its source. This was based on the measured odour intensities and historic weather information.
The computer modelling showed that the biosolids lagoons are the largest contributor to odours. However, these modelled odour intensities only reached the typical ‘threshold of odour perception and recognition under real-world conditions for most people’ a few times in a year, and only at the very edge of affected neighbourhoods.
These results are not consistent with what is being reported by Calgarians and more work is required to identify other potential sources and ensure that mitigation measures are going to help.
Task 4 - Recommended Mitigation Measures
In the final phase of the investigation, Jacobs subject matter experts completed site reviews of various City operations as well as interviews with operational staff. Through this work, Jacobs developed a list of recommendations to minimize odour, which were evaluated for effectiveness, other impacts/consequences, and cost.
Project recommendations
The following are mitigation measures recommended in the S.E. Odour Investigation Report by Jacobs Engineering to The City of Calgary based on their effectiveness and cost. Possible mitigation measures were considered but not recommended by Jacobs at this time due to low effectiveness or unmanageable impacts on operations (e.g. completely relocating operations).
General
| Mitigations Recommended for Implementation | How this will help with odours | Effectiveness | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Establish a process to regularly communicate with residents and other interested parties (i.e., Community Associations) to increase knowledge of existing odour mitigation measures and any future plans/projects to reduce odours | While this recommendation will not directly impact odours themselves, it will improve communication with neighbours in southeast communities. Calgarians in these communities will be kept informed of actions being taken to reduce odours in the area. | ✔✔ | $ | Ongoing |
| Install a series of active real-time odour and odour compound monitoring sensors throughout adjacent community and along the Shepard Complex perimeter to gather real-time odour data | This type of system will improve The City’s knowledge of exactly where and when odours are being generated, allowing more focused mitigation actions. | ✔✔ | $$ | Ongoing |
Lagoons
| Mitigations Recommended for Implementation | How this will help with odours | Effectiveness | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Improve and automate existing misting system | Upgrades and automation will help provide consistent and timely odour coverage. | ✔✔ | $$ | Ongoing |
| Surround lagoons with trees | Trees, or other barriers, can act as a barrier to both operations and odourous air. A physical barrier causes dispersion of an air pocket as it is forced to move over or around the barrier. | ✔✔ | $$ | Investigation |
| Modify operations at dewatered Biosolids storage to ensure stockpiled material is not disturbed until it has been in place for at least 2 weeks whenever possible. | Moving stored material less frequently will allow it to form a crust and create less odours when it does need to be moved. | ✔✔ | N/A | Complete |
Composting Facility
| Mitigations Recommended for Implementation | How this will help with odours | Effectiveness | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facility Expansion – addition of horizontal plug flow anerobic digestion (HPFAD) system. | The expansion of the compost facility with the HPFAD system is expected to have several positive effects on managing and reducing odours. By incorporating a HPFAD system into the compost facility, a larger volume of organics can be handled through an enclosed process that will help control the odours produced. | ✔✔✔ | $$$$$ | Ongoing |
| Mitigations Recommended for Implementation | How this will help with odours | Effectiveness | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biofilter – explore opportunities to improve biofilter performance which could include additional performance monitoring, a higher stack height and more frequent biofilter media replacement. | Biofilter is the odour treatment system for all air being exhausted from the main building. Ensuring that the biofilter is working at effectively is critical to facility odour management. | ✔✔✔ | $-$$ | Ongoing |
| Curing building – Review operations to optimize conditions for composting including floor aeration, curing times and windrow operations. | Optimal conditions for composting minimize odour emitted during the process. | ✔✔✔✔ | $-$$ | Ongoing |
| Outdoor storage of finished compost - Limit the amount of finished material stored on the pad. | Reducing the amount of material on the storage pad simply reduces the size of the potential odour source. | ✔✔✔✔ | $$ | Ongoing |
Shepard landfill
| Mitigations Recommended for Implementation | How this will help with odours | Effectiveness | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Review types of waste allowed to be disposed of at landfill and eliminate odourous waste types where possible | Removing waste known to produce odours from landfill would reduce odour emitted at the landfill. | ✔✔✔✔ | $ | Ongoing |
Sewer
As part of the S.E. Odours investigation Report, Jacobs Engineering investigated the East McKenzie Lift Station, but it was determined that the lift station does not contribute to significant odours in the area.
Stormwater
As part of the S.E. odour investigation, it was determined that the storm management system does not contribute to significant odours in the area.
Other
Private activities
Jacobs Engineering also identified other odour sources that could be contributing to odours in the S.E including private businesses.
- Wetlands – south and east of the Shepard Complex
- Other industrial sources
- Agricultural activities east of Stoney Trail
No specific mitigation recommendations were made in relation to these odour sources at this time except for the installation of a real-time odour monitoring system for the area.