Beaverton company thinks it can eliminate the stink from Nature's Needs
A Beaverton company thinks it has the technological answers to all but end lingering odor problems at Nature's Needs' regional composting facility near North Plains.
Representatives from PacWest Global are scheduled to meet Thursday with Martha Bennett, Metro's chief operating officer, to make their pitch.
By using equipment the company sells to pretreat food scraps and other waste at Metro's central sorting facility, they say, most moisture and virtually all offensive smells can be eliminated before the material is ever hauled to North Plains for final composting.
"We think our solution can end any problems before they ever begin," said Dusty Allison, who serves as an adviser to his son, PacWest Global CEO Scott Allison. "It's certainly worth their taking a look at."
Bennett, through a spokesman, said she does not expect a decision to come out of the 4 p.m. meeting.
Foul odors emanating from Nature's Needs composting facility just outside North Plains have generated scores of complaints. A total of 136 complaints were registered in February alone.
The 67-acre facility, which is owned by Recology Oregon Compost, is considered critical to the long-term success of the city of Portland's fledgling curbside food-waste collection program.
Allison said machinery mounted on skidders could easily be hauled into Metro's central sorting facility. Using a process called "kinetic disintegration," the machine employs high air pressure to slap the material from side wall to side wall.
That process creates its own heat, which helps suck moisture out of the material. Vapors are neutralized by being run through carbon-activated filters. A set of chains and bars at the bottom of the equipment shreds the material into small pieces.
"It's a closed-loop system," Allison said. "Nothing comes off that machine, and there is no heat required from the outside. It's easily permitted as a grinder and can process anywhere from one to three tons per hour."
Various models of the equipment, which is manufactured by a British Columbia company, are priced according to size and horsepower. Prices range from $190,000 to about $360,000.
Metro has a contract with Recology to haul and process food waste and other materials. It's not clear, however, if that contract could be altered to require Recology to buy the equipment.
"We just want them to hear what we have to offer," Allison said. "We'll see where it goes from there."
On the plus side, complaints about odors at Nature's Needs have dipped recently, a trend that some attribute to new, more powerful blowers installed to extract and filter odors.
"Generally, on a day-to-day basis, it's a little better," said Martha DeBry, North Plains city manager. "They are definitely working to improve things out there."
Critics of the operation counter that Washington County's order reducing the amount of tonnage that can be accepted on a daily basis is a more likely cause for reduced odors.
The county told Nature's Needs administrators that beginning in March the facility could accept only 150 tons a day, down from the 450 tons previously authorized.
"The odors are quite diminished, but so is the amount of material they can accept right now," said Marilyn Schulz, a retired Portland police detective and co-founder of opposition group "Stop the Stink." "The truth is, I don't think they are ever going to be able to control it and I don't think they will ever admit that."
Dave Dutra, Recology's general manager for Portland operations, did not return phone calls for comment.
-- Dana Tims Related topics: martha bennett, martha debry, metro, nature's needs, pacwest global, recology oregon compost
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