EVERETT — Cedar Grove Composting, the company accused of emitting unpleasant odors through Marysville and Everett the past few years, has spent nearly $2 million over the past few years to address the problem.
In a document obtained from the Snohomish Health District, company officials list $1.73 million in measures taken since 2008 to quell the smell. Cedar Grove officials say, however, that when odor-control technology investments in the original plant are considered, the number is much higher.
The list was recently provided to the health district in response to concerns expressed by a district inspector about the persistence of the odors. Solid waste operations in Snohomish County must receive permits from the health district to do business.
The largest of the expenditures listed are $600,000 for trees to absorb odor and serve as windbreaks; $500,000 in lost revenue from diverting some compostable material to other companies or locations at peak times; and $360,000 for an apron and roll-up doors for the large building where raw compostable material is dropped off by trucks, to minimize odors that escapes.
Many of the trees died after they were planted last year. Cedar Grove plans to plant new trees this fall, said Laird Harris, a spokesman hired by Cedar Grove.
Still, many who live in Marysville and north Everett have continued to complain of an odor they say smells like rotting compost or silage, as distinct from smells emitted by sewage plants and other odor sources in the area.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, which has jurisdiction over odors generated by non-industrial sources, has issued five “notices of violation” to Cedar Grove since 2008. Two of those resulted in fines: a $2,000 fine issued in April 2008 for a violation the year before and a $14,000 fine issued for a violation last August, said Laurie Halvorson, director of compliance for the agency. The company is appealing the second fine.
People who have complained of the odor say there are many more instances than inspectors for the clean air agency can verify. Cedar Grove counters that data from weather stations in the area shows that many of the violations could not have been committed by their operation.
Mike Davis, who recently started a group called Citizens for a Smell Free Marysville, said measures taken by the company have not solved the problem.
“I’ve got 1,100 signatures on a petition that says they’ve wasted their money,” he said. “I don’t buy much of what they say.”
Inspectors from the Snohomish Health District visit Cedar Grove monthly. In the last several reports, inspectors expressed concern about the number of odor complaints Cedar Grove received.
On a report dated July 23, inspector Aran Enger said Cedar Grove appeared to be operating in compliance with permit conditions.
“I believe Cedar Grove is making a good effort to mitigate for potential odor issues, however the fact remains that on several occasions the facility generates valid odor complaints,” he wrote.
Davis believes the only solution is to erect a building to enclose the entire operation.
Harris, the Cedar Grove spokesman, said enclosing the plant would be so expensive the company would have to be compensated through a large increase in rates paid by households and businesses that have their compostable waste picked up.
“It would be several times the cost of the initial facility ($25 million) and that would be conservative,” he said. “The cost of putting the entire facility in a building is unrealistic without very substantial increases in rates paid by households and businesses,” Harris said.
“Until (the material) reaches finished compost stages, processing takes place either enclosed in a building or under covers that stop odors from entering the environment. Cedar Grove believes this technology is the best available for large scale composting operations such as we operate.”
Cedar Grove receives much of the yard waste and compostable food scraps collected by garbage haulers in Snohomish County, and receives some from King County, as well. The company contracts with waste haulers and local cities. The company also has a plant in Maple Valley in King County.
Cedar Grove officials, who previously have said little about how much the company has spent on the problem, now say $1.73 million could be a low estimate.
The system the company uses to cure its piles of compost, which employs Gore-Tex tarps and aeration equipment, also has odor-control benefits, Harris said.
This system represents about 60 percent of the $25 million cost of the Smith Island plant, built in 2004, he said.
“It is accurate to say that Cedar Grove has spent several millions on odor control at its Everett facility,” he said.
The past two years, company officials researched ways to reduce odor, including evaluating the composting process itself, officials said in the list supplied to the health district. They also considered changing the way they operate and the equipment they use.
This year Cedar Grove also began covering many of the finished piles of compost with synthetic covers.
The company plans to apply soon with the city of Everett to build an enclosed facility to generate electricity from methane gas produced by compost.
“Cedar Grove has been investing in improvements in odor control since its beginning in 1989 and will continue to do so,” Harris said.
Where the money went
Following are the expenditures listed by Cedar Grove Composting as having been made since 2008 to control odor coming from its Smith Island plant:
$600,000 for trees to absorb odor and serve as windbreaks;
$500,000 in lost revenue from diverting some compostable material to other companies or locations at peak times;
$360,000 for an apron and roll-up doors for the building where raw compostable material is dropped off by trucks;
$100,000 for consultants CH2M Hill and Envirometrics Inc. to develop odor control plans;
$55,000 for an employee to monitor incoming loads for odors;
$55,000 for an employee to monitor, investigate and document odors;
$29,500 for an aeration system for a storm-water pond;
$15,000 for addition of an odor-control mist to the material before it is run through a grinder;
$10,000 to install shrouds on conveyors and trommels;
$4,000 for increased coverage of compost piles;
$2,000 to inspect a tank that contains runoff liquid from the operation to make sure air diffusers are working properly;
$1,000 for installation of a weather station and for use of data from other weather stations in the area to correlate temperature and wind direction with odor complaints.
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