MONROE — A week after the Legislature gave them the land they needed to build on, Monroe dairy farmers and the Tulalip Tribes announced Tuesday that they are pushing forward with their bid to convert cow manure into electricity.
Four Skykomish Valley dairies produce enough animal dung to support a manure-to-electricity plant, according to an ongoing feasibility study. But the report on whether the project would generate enough electricity to pay for itself is not finished yet.
Still, with the news that they are going to get the land they need, the members of the Snohomish Basin BioGas Partnership say they are preparing to apply for federal, state and local permits needed to get their power plant off the ground.
First, they must decide how they want to organize their group, something they will do in the coming weeks, said John Sayre, executive director of Northwest Chinook Recovery and a member of the partnership.
"This work is just getting started," Sayre said.
The partnership of farmers, tribes and environmentalists hopes to capture the methane gas given off by cow manure as it decomposes in a digester, a device that speeds up the process and eliminates the odor anyone who has driven by a dairy farm knows well.
Revenues from selling the electricity would be used to pay for collecting and treating the manure, saving the dairies millions of dollars over time, while making sure their manure doesn’t get into streams and rivers where it could harm salmon and other wildlife.
More importantly, it keeps working farms from being developed, supporters say.
"When you gobble up farmland, it doesn’t come back," said Andy Werkhoven, whose family owns Werkhoven Dairy Inc., one of the dairies that plans to send its waste to the biogas facility.
The key hurdle was acquiring the old Monroe Honor Farm, a 277-acre dairy in the heart of the Skykomish Valley once operated by prisoners.
The Legislature agreed last week during state budget negotiations to give the dairy to the Tulalip Tribes for use to convert manure to electricity. Gov. Gary Locke must sign the measure before the transfer can occur, something supporters say he is likely to do.
Giving the tribes the land didn’t follow the state’s normal process for selling surplus property, which angered some of the power plant’s would-be supporters, including Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe.
"There’s a process you’re supposed to go through where you show no favoritism," Pearson said. "I don’t have a problem with the biogas concept because a lot of my farmer friends support it, (but) I wanted a dialogue that would make the locals feel comfortable."
Even those who were asking the Legislature for the property expected it to take them months, if not longer, to acquire the old farm.
Instead, Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, attached the transfer to the Legislature’s 2004 capital budget, approved last week.
Dunshee said stepping outside the process was worth it in this case.
"There’s a regular long process that we could have followed, and the tribe would have gotten it at the end anyway," he said. "What we did was streamline the process."
Pearson said he’s also concerned that the property was given to the tribes for nothing, noting that there are several buildings and structures on the property that could have generated revenue for the state. Though specific numbers weren’t available, the property would have been worth at least several million dollars on the open market.
Monroe resident Larry Hancock said the deal smells of favoritism toward the tribes and a few dairies.
"I think it’s great for the tribe and about four farms, but what about the rest of us?" said Hancock, who worries what the tribes will do with the land and the increased number of trucks the facility could bring to the area. "If they’re going to give it away, they should give it to the people, not to some Indian tribe."
Dunshee said helping the dairy industry remain viable in the Skykomish Valley while keeping manure byproducts out of the water and air is benefit enough for the valley and Snohomish County.
"What’s the alternative?" Dunshee said. "This was the No. 2 spot for (locating) sexual predators a couple of years ago."
Fears that the tribes will build a casino on the land are unfounded, Tulalip Tribes Chairman Herman Williams Jr. said. The authorizing legislation requires that the land revert back to the state if it doesn’t become the home for a biogas facility and supporting agricultural uses.
In spring 2003, the tribes received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study building the manure-to-power plant. The tribes have also received $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help build the digester. Estimates are that it will cost $2 million to build.
Reporter Lukas Velush:
425-339-3449 or
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