Cedar Grove fights fines over odors

  • By Bill Sheets Herald Writer
  • Monday, February 14, 2011 12:01am
  • Local News

EVERETT — Hearings are to begin later this month on an appeal filed by Cedar Grove Composting to fight $169,000 in fines for odor violations.

The north Everett company has been the target of many complaints about bad smells the past few years.

Hearings are scheduled for Feb. 28 through March 4 with the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board in Tumwater.

The fines were levied last July by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for violations dating back to 2009 at both the Everett plant and the company’s operation at Maple Valley in King County.

Investigators for the clean air agency traced odor complaints to Cedar Grove Composting on Smith Island on Aug. 24, 2009, and May 25, 2010. A fine of $14,000 was levied for the 2009 violation and a fine of $13,000 for the incident last May, said Laurie Halvorson, director of compliance for the agency.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The remainder of the fines involve complaints about the Maple Valley plant. That plant opened in 1989; the Everett plant opened in 2004.

Cedar Grove’s Everett location receives much of the yard waste and 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.

“Cedar Grove is utilizing the appeal process to challenge the violations because we believe them to be mistaken,” spokesman Laird Harris said. “We expect to get a fair hearing in the appeal process.”

Cedar Grove officials have said that wind data from weather stations in the area has shown that many of the complaints were wrongly traced to their operation.

“Technical analysis establishes that the odor complaints upon which the civil penalties are based are meteorologically improbable,” the company’s attorney wrote in the appeal, filed last August.

Cedar Grove has pointed out that other potential odor sources exist near its Everett location, such as the Marysville and Everett wastewater treatment plants and Pacific Topsoils.

In its appeal, the company accused the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency of failing to investigate the other possible sources.

In the past few years, however, whenever agency inspectors have been able to trace odors in the area after receiving complaints, it’s been to Cedar Grove, officials have said.

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, which governs odors generated by non-industrial sources, has issued five “notices of violation” to Cedar Grove since 2008. Three of those resulted in fines, including a $2,000 fine issued in April 2008 along with the two more recent incidents.

People who have complained of the odor say there are many more instances than agency inspectors can verify.

“Cedar Grove runs up huge legal bills fighting its responsibility rather than being a good neighbor and taking care of the odor problem permanently,” said Mike Davis of Marysville, leader of the group Citizens for a Smell-Free Snohomish County, in a written statement.

Cedar Grove has spent nearly $2 million in odor control measures since 2008, according to documents obtained from the Snohomish Health District. These measures include trees to absorb odor and serve as windbreaks; lost revenue for diverting some compostable material to other companies or locations at peak times; and an apron and roll-up doors for the large building where raw compostable material is dropped off by trucks, to minimize air that escapes.

Fees for attorneys and consultants are not listed among the costs.

From August through November of last year, Cedar Grove hired trained specialists to patrol the area checking for odors, according to the company. The specialists found Cedar Grove’s contribution to the odors reported during that time to be “insignificant.”

Still, the stink persists, many neighbors say.

Davis has said Cedar Grove should completely enclose its operation. Company officials have said the cost of such a building would be prohibitive, that it would be several times the $25 million it cost to build the original plant and that much of that cost would be passed on to households and businesses that have their compostable waste picked up.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Police Cmdr. Scott King answers questions about the Flock Safety license plate camera system on Thursday, June 5, 2025 in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mountlake Terrace approves Flock camera system after public pushback

The council approved the $54,000 license plate camera system agreement by a vote of 5-2.

Cascadia College Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Midori Sakura looks in the surrounding trees for wildlife at the North Creek Wetlands on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 in Bothell, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Cascadia College ecology students teach about the importance of wetlands

To wrap up the term, students took family and friends on a guided tour of the North Creek wetlands.

Community members gather for the dedication of the Oso Landslide Memorial following the ten-year remembrance of the slide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
The Daily Herald garners 6 awards from regional journalism competition

The awards recognize the best in journalism from media outlets across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen goes through an informational slideshow about the current budget situation in Edmonds during a roundtable event at the Edmonds Waterfront Center on Monday, April 7, 2025 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edmonds mayor recommends $19M levy lid lift for November

The city’s biennial budget assumed a $6 million levy lid lift. The final levy amount is up to the City Council.

A firefighting helicopter carries a bucket of water from a nearby river to the Bolt Creek Fire on Saturday, Sep. 10, 2022, on U.S. 2 near Index, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Snohomish County property owners can prepare for wildfire season

Clean your roofs, gutters and flammable material while completing a 5-foot-buffer around your house.

(City of Everett)
Everett’s possible new stadium has a possible price tag

City staff said a stadium could be built for $82 million, lower than previous estimates. Bonds and private investment would pay for most of it.

Jennifer Humelo, right, hugs Art Cass outside of Full Life Care Snohomish County on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘I’ll lose everything’: Snohomish County’s only adult day health center to close

Full Life Care in Everett, which supports adults with disabilities, will shut its doors July 19 due to state funding challenges.

The Edmonds City Council gathers to discuss annexing into South County Fire on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edmonds could owe South County Fire nearly $6M for remainder of 2025 services

The city has paused payments to the authority while the two parties determine financial responsibility for the next seven months of service.

The Edmonds School District building on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
State testing finds elevated levels of lead in Edmonds School District water

Eleven of the district’s 34 schools have been tested. About one-fifth of water outlets had lead levels of 5 or more parts per billion.

A man works on a balcony at the Cedar Pointe Apartments, a 255 apartment complex for seniors 55+, on Jan. 6, 2020, in Arlington, Washington. (Andy Bronson/The Herald)
Washington AG files complaint against owners of 3 SnoCo apartment complexes

The complaint alleges that owners engaged in unfair and deceptive practices. Vintage Housing disputes the allegations.

Stolen car crashes into Everett Mexican restaurant

Contrary to social media rumors, unmarked police units had nothing to do with a raid by ICE agents.

Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. (Olivia Vanni/The Herald)
Providence Everett issues layoff notices to over 100 nursing assistants

The layoffs are part of a larger restructuring by Providence, affecting 600 positions across seven states, Providence announced Thursday.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.