(Host) Experts say Vermont needs to develop rules for large-scale composting businesses that recognize both the benefits and the potential hazards of the operations.
Two of the state’s largest compost companies have been accused this year of violating environmental regulations.
Both companies say they believe they followed the law. But people involved in the industry say those rules are difficult to understand.
Robert Foster runs a ten-acre composting operation on his Middlebury farm. He’s also president of the Composting Association of Vermont.
(Foster) “What we have is a whole mishmash of things, some of it in statute, some of it not and we needed to clarify that if we were going to move forward to deal with the organics that are in the waste stream and reduce the amount that end up in the landfills.”
(Host) The state supports composting because it diverts food waste and other organic material from landfills.
But Cathy Jamieson of the Solid Waste Division says decaying compost can pollute groundwater if it’s not managed properly.
(Jamieson) “We feel strongly that we want to make sure that we are providing adequate oversight at the same time promoting composting. And it’s a fine balance. Because we do want to divert more organics from the landfill. They do provide great benefits … But at the same time we do need to make sure these facilities aren’t impacting their neighbors, surface waters or ground waters.”
(Host) The state estimates that 38,000 tons of residential organic waste is composted each year. But that’s only a third of the total produced. The rest ends up in landfills.