Sludge Watch ==> WA: Sludge Composting Site Closed - 200 odor complaints

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.chronline.com/story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1193077120&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1

Composting Days Over for Soil Key
Operators of the Soil Key composting yard near Tenino have ended operations.
Posted Oct 22, 11:18 am. E-mail this article to a friend.
By The Chronicle - Washington State

Operators of the Soil Key composting yard near Tenino have ended operations, 
according to an Oct. 15 release from the Olympia Region Clean Air Agency 
(ORCAA).

Attorneys for Soil Key notified ORCAA on Oct. 1 that the composter had 
locked the gates to its facility, stating that “No new work is coming in, no 
work is being done, and no finished product is going out.”

The remaining mound of unfinished compost at the facility, however, leaves a 
challenge for environmental regulatory agencies.

After being issued numerous Notices of Violation for odor emissions, Soil 
Key was hit with a temporary restraining order from the Superior Court of 
Washington for Thurston County in August.

The TRO included provisions for Soil Key to continue operations if they met 
conditions detailed in an ORCAA-issued regulatory order.

The facility was also presented with an Administrative Order from the 
Washington Department of Ecology in September, after state inspectors found 
the facility in violation of state and federal Solid Waste regulations 
related to pathogen reduction in biosolids.

The Ecology order directed Soil Key to “cease acceptance of any biosolids, 
solid waste or any materials from any source intended to incorporation into 
‘compost’ until further notice.”

Thurston County inspectors found the facility in violation of many of its 
permit requirements and suspended Soil Key’s Special Use Permit, effectively 
shutting down the facility.

Residents living near the facility first notified ORCAA of severe odor 
problems in 2006, after Soil Key began accepting biosolids, leading ORCAA to 
issue over 17 Notices of Violation.

Soil Key, which previously operated under the name Blue Ribbon Turf farms, 
is located between Grand Mound and Tenino. Construction worker Glen Davis, 
53, Lacey, was killed in an accident at the site in mid-August when he was 
struck by the bucket of an excavator.

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http://www.theolympian.com/business/story/250769.html

Ecology handles Soil Key remnants

John Dodge
The Olympian
GRAND MOUND — State Department of Ecology officials are searching for a 
disposal site for unfinished compost left on site at Soil Key, a south 
Thurston County composting business shut down for failing to comply with 
county and state solid waste regulations.

The company had been receiving about 100 tons daily of treated, semi-solid 
waste from sewage treatment plants and chicken processing waste, before 300 
odor complaints from neighbors since 2005 prompted the Olympic Region Clean 
Air Agency to seek a Thurston County Superior Court order that restricted 
the volume and handling of solid waste by Soil Key.
In September, Ecology and Thurston County officials weighed in with orders 
of their own, suspending business operations by Soil Key.
Soil Key owner Chuck Spoerer could not be reached for comment Monday. 
However, Soil Key has appealed the Ecology and ORCAA orders to the state 
Pollution Control Hearings Board for a possible settlement or trial.
Ecology spokeswoman Kim Schmanke said the goal is to safely dispose of the 
material left at the business site while the appeal runs its course. It’s 
not clear how many tons of solid waste remain at the site at 4400 163rd Ave. 
S.W., Tenino.

“We have concerns that the material is not properly treated and that 
pathogens are present in the compost,” Schmanke said.
That means removal would need to be approved by the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency and involve a site with restricted public access and 
nowhere near surface water or groundwater supplies, she said.

Odor problems have diminished since raw materials stopped arriving at the 
site and operators at Soil Key quit digging into the piles, noted Mike 
Field, a 160th Lane Southwest resident near the composting plant.
Neighbors are eager to see the piles of compost removed, even it if means a 
temporary increase in odors, he said.
Soil Key attorney Ralph Pond said in an Oct. 1 letter to ORCAA that the 
state and county orders forced Soil Key to cease operations.

“No new material is coming in, no work is being done, and no finished 
product is going out,” Pond wrote. “ORCAA’s objective of shutting down Soil 
Key’s business has been achieved.”
That drew a sharp response from ORCAA legal counsel Cece Clynch, who said 
the air quality agency worked for months with Soil Key and its consultants 
to try to bring the business into compliance with the federal Clean Air Act.

“Your client chose the path it took,” Clynch said in an Oct. 3 letter to 
Pond. “There is no need to cast aspersions on ORCAA’s motivation. It is a 
public agency charged with enforcing the law and that is what it did.”