Composting, power generation presented as options for trash

Directors of the Marion Transfer Station (MTS) at their meeting of May 13 heard presentations from Nancy Oden and Normand Laberge, local proponents for two different approaches to trash disposal.

Oden is an environmental activist from Jonesboro who has led the opposition to an MTS application for a new landfill in Township 14. She asked the board to consider a composting program to reduce the amount of food and yard waste that now go into the landfill in Marion and, she says, account for 40%-60% of municipal solid waste.

Laberge is a professional engineer from Cutler who has been involved in various alternative energy proposals in the area for a number of years, many involving Native American participation, including tidal and wind projects. He and two partners C Fred Moore III and Dennis Sanborn C are now promoting a system to decompose and gasify municipal solid waste through pyrolysis (chemical decomposition by heating), thus significantly reducing the amount of material to be disposed of in a landfill or by other means. The energy generated could provide heat for a greenhouse and/or a saleable commodity to power companies.

Oden says she has the support of the county commissioners and the State Planning Office, which she said provided her with a "small grant" for her project. She cites "the crisis in world food production," a growing interest in organic farming, the benefits of consuming locally grown food, and the needs of Washington County's food banks in support of her plan to turn a sizeable portion of municipal solid waste into compost. She believes that gardens could be established at jail and prison facilities to be tended by inmates who will also consume the produce. She also envisions the construction of raised beds at other sites that would be filled with compost for gardens to be planted by the elderly or handicapped for their own use. Oden pointed to the Pleasant River Solid Waste Disposal District as a model example of composting, gardening and recycling at a landfill, and she invited MTS directors to visit the facility.

Board members questioned how vegetative waste would be separated from other waste at the landfill. Oden suggested that residents be polled at town meetings to see if they would be willing to segregate trash at the pickup points so that haulers could transport materials separately. Another suggestion was for householders to transport "putrescible material once a week or so" to a designated collection center.

Chairman John Pope suggested that Oden "come up with a warrant article to present to all the towns that are represented on the MTS board." She agreed to return to the next MTS directors' meeting with an article to propose as well as additional information on means of collecting, storing and distributing compost material.

Laberge says a gasification unit like the one he proposes is now in operation in Peele, Ontario. That facility is capable of converting some 300 tons of solid waste per day, he says, though he believes a unit capable of processing 50-100 tons per day would meet Washington County's needs. The so-called "waste-to-energy" plant is operated by a Canadian corporation known as EnEco.

Directors had a number of questions related to costs, means of financing and whether such a project would represent public or private investment. Laberge estimated a cost in the range of $5-10 million to build a facility that would process 50 tons/day of solid waste and include composting and greenhouse components. Such a facility would employ about 30 people, he estimated. Laberge said he and another partner, Fred Moore III, would return to the next MTS directors' meeting with additional information with respect to costs.

The board was asked how a gasification facility would affect MTS' pending application before the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a new landfill in Township 14. MTS Manager Milan Jamieson replied that MTS would operate "one or the other, not both." Asked about the status of the DEP review of the application, Jamieson said, "It's inching along."

The MTS board meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Pembroke Elementary School on the second Tuesday of the month. Both Oden and Laberge say they plan to return for the June 12 meeting. Laberge said he has also been invited to give a similar presentation to county commissioners at their meeting on June 5.