The final word isn’t in, but a group of farmers, environmentalists and Tulalip tribal members say they are 99 percent sure they want to move ahead with a bid to turn cow manure into electricity at an old dairy farm in Monroe.
A study on what it would take to build a power plant to use the methane gas given off by manure at Skykomish Valley dairies is not quite complete, but those pushing the concept aren’t sitting still.
Members of the Snohomish Basin BioGas Partnership were in Olympia on Wednesday to lobby members of the Legislature to agree to sell or deed over the old Monroe Honor Farm.
"We’re into it far enough to know that we want to go ahead," said Dale Reiner, a cattle rancher from Monroe who is pushing for the "green" power plant. "In my mind, it’s the best thing that has happened to agriculture in a long, long time."
Removing the cost of treating manure would save dairies millions of dollars, Reiner said, savings that would translate into an economic boost for the entire farming community.
Environmentalists and Tulalip Tribes leaders like it because it will get pollutants out of the water system and, perhaps more importantly, help make sure dairies stay open and keep the land from being paved over for development.
"We’re feeling pretty positive about this," said Herman Williams Jr., chairman of the Tulalip Tribes, a key player in the still developing partnership. "We need to keep that stuff out of the creeks and rivers, because it depletes the oxygen and kills the fish."
The 2,500 cows on four dairy farms located near the prison farm produce enough manure to run a half-megawatt generator. More waste would have to be brought in from other dairies to build a 1-megawatt generator, which would need 8,000 to 9,000 cows to support it. A megawatt is enough electricity for 400 to 900 homes.
Williams, Reiner and other members of the partnership hope to further their cause on Saturday when they attend a hearing on the future of the former prison dairy farm.
State Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, said turning the dairy farm into something that can help save dairies and protect salmon sounds like a good idea, but added that the state has to see who else might want the 260-acre site.
To that end, he is hosting an informational hearing 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the Monroe Fire Station to find out.
"I promised we’d have an open meeting," Pearson said. "I want to see what public interest there is in the property."
A key reason the Snohomish Basin BioGas Partnership wants the old farm site is because it’s within a half-mile of four working dairies, which would create considerable savings when it comes to moving the manure.
In spring 2003, the tribes received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study building the manure-to-power operation. That study is due out in the coming months.
The tribes have also received $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help build the digester, a device that would help the manure decompose and catch the methane given off during the breakdown. Estimates are that it will cost $2 million to build a digester.
The tribes hope that many of the area’s dairy cows could eventually be moved to the site, cutting the cost of hauling the waste, which could be expensive. If the cows are moved, then the hope is the tribes will get the chance to restore salmon streams near old dairy farms.
The former prison farm had been put up for sale, but during the last legislative session lawmakers pulled it off the market while they waited to see what the ongoing feasibility study showed. The partnership has until June to finish its study and make its pitch to acquire the property, Pearson said.
Reporter Lukas Velush:
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