EVERETT — A hearing examiner has approved permits for a new composting facility that will use giant Gore-Tex blankets to decompose yard and food waste faster while limiting odors.
Cedar Grove Composting Inc. hopes to open the commercial facility on the northwest side of Smith Island by summer. Grading and other work on the 27-acre site could begin in December, said Mark Wolken, an Everett consultant who worked on Cedar Grove’s permit application and plans.
Because of the facility’s proximity to the island’s shoreline, Cedar Grove had to apply for a shoreline management permit and a special-use permit, both of which recently were granted.
At its headquarters and primary composting plant in Maple Valley, Cedar Grove already processes yard waste collected by trash haulers in Snohomish County. That arrangement, however, requires extra time and money spent hauling the waste, said Jerry Bartlett, general manager for Cedar Grove.
In its first phase, the Smith Island composting plant would be able to handle all of the yard waste collected by Waste Management Northwest in Snohomish County. There’s also been enough interest from other companies, so the second phase may also be built in the spring, Wolken said.
After a third phase is built, the plant will eventually handle approximately 123,000 tons of material a year. By comparison, Cedar Grove’s Maple Valley location processes 195,000 tons a year, making it the largest yard-waste composting site in the nation.
At a hearing earlier this month in Everett, no one opposed the new composting plant. In fact, several speakers said they thought the project was a good use of industrial-zoned land located near Steamboat Slough, which is considered a sensitive waterway.
"I think we went out of our way to address the issues before turning in the application," Wolken said.
Cedar Grove plans to use Gore-Tex covers that hold in heat and moisture, as well as more than 90 percent of odors created by the composting process. Fans will help push air through the piles, while electronic probes will monitor air flow and temperature.
Using this same system at its Maple Valley plant, Cedar Grove can produce mature compost in 10 to 12 weeks, compared with a year using methods without covers.
Cedar Grove plans to sell its finished compost and potting soil blends from the site. Additionally, the company is building a public walking trail along Steamboat Slough in areas that cannot be developed because of environmental rules. That, however, will have to wait a few months, Wolken said.
"We just can’t start on that until the spring because of some waterfowl that apparently roost in the trees there," he said.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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