Council Reopens Composting Plant

Once again, Spokane’s compost plant is open for business.

Despite nearly two hours of neighbors’ angry testimony, the City Council reversed its decision earlier this month to close the plant and end the contract with O.M. Scott and Sons, the Ohio company that manages the site.

“By diverting waste to compost, we save $8,000 to $10,000 a week,” said Councilmember Joel Crosby.

“That’s a significant savings.”

By a 4-3 vote, the city also agreed to buy at least $40,000 worth of misting equipment and an organic spray that promises to absorb the odors caused by the composting.

Mayor Jack Geraghty and Council members Orville Barnes and Bev Numbers dissented.

“When are we going to call it quits?” Numbers said. “When are we going to stop spending money on a system that doesn’t work?”

Council members voted Aug. 7 to close the plant, but Crosby vowed to bring the issue back.

The plant has been cited three times for odor violations in the past 90 days by the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority.

It’s not the first time the council has closed the plant only to reopen it a short time later. A year ago, under siege from neighbors outraged by the odors, the council closed the plant for a month.

Neighbors say smells near the plant haven’t improved with time.

“It smells like crap every day,” said Gene Rutledge. “And we have continued to complain.”

Crosby said the people complaining about the plant’s smells “live around a Superfund site and a transfer station. We’re not talking about homes built near Manito Golf Course or some pristine spring.”

“We lived out there long before it was a Superfund cleanup site,” Rutledge said.

The nearby Colbert Landfill is listed as a Superfund site the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

, DataTimes