Monitoring In Colbert Cut Back
Spokane air quality cops will quit sniffing daily around the Colbert composting plant, after deciding the facility only violates clean air laws when it breaks down.
“The facility is in compliance” most of the time, said inspector Ed Hayes III in a report Thursday to the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority board.
During SCAPCA’s monthlong, 100-hour monitoring effort in the neighborhoods near the plant, inspectors discovered:
Some smells don’t come from the compost plant at all, but from wetlands and stagnant water near the Little Spokane River.
Compost smells come in three types: “sour/grassy,” “earthy/manure,” and “fresh-cut pine.”
The worst smells wafted into the neighborhood after the plant’s composting equipment broke down and the compost couldn’t be aerated.
During regular operations, the facility smells like “mild manure” and does not break clean air laws.
When compost is being ground up, it smells “piney” and isn’t unpleasant.
A leader in a neighborhood group formed to oppose the Colbert plant disputed SCAPCA’s conclusions.
“There are absolutely bad odors when their equipment hasn’t broken down. While the SCAPCA inspectors are honest, they aren’t always here. I just want the enjoyment and use of my home back,” said Elizabeth Kelley of Concerned Citizens of Colbert.
SCAPCA has cited the plant three times for emitting foul, “sour/grassy” smells when its equipment failed. One was issued over the Memorial Day weekend, and the other two were in early August.
From Aug. 3 to Sept. 6, SCAPCA received 78 new complaints from 28 residents, most coming from two housing developments directly downwind. In all, nearly 1,600 complaints - many repeat calls from the same homes - have been logged this year.
Although the daily trips have ended, SCAPCA will keep sniffing, said Director Eric Skelton.
“We’ll still monitor out there, but not as frequently as over the last month,” he said.
In August, the City Council voted to continue operating the controversial facility. It approved a $40,000 misting system to diminish odors.
The SCAPCA board also voted this week to begin negotiations with the city to attach new operating conditions to the plant’s permit that would allow more fines if new odor-reducing equipment fails.
If the city balks, SCAPCA will continue to issue more fines that could lead to shutting down the plant, said county Commissioner Steve Hasson.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Map: Compost complaints