Compost Site Costing All Residents

Thu., Feb. 9, 1995

Charles R. Adams

Residents of Colbert got stuck with the stink, but we are not the only ones getting the shaft from the citycounty composting facility.

It is costing all residents of Spokane County plenty. Here’s how:

Spokane County and the city of Spokane provide the O.M. Scott Co. with all the materials that eventually turn into compost, mulch, or other soil amendment products. O.M. Scott gets to sell 90 percent of the finished product, while we get just 10 percent for parks and other public use.

The taxpayers paid all costs incurred in the design and construction of the composting facility. Grants are only a drop in the bucket, compared to the increase in fees and taxes needed to pay for the operation of the compost facility.

The city and county also purchased all of the equipment O.M. Scott needed to operate the facility. Any replacement equipment will become the property of O.M. Scott.

The city delivers leaves and wood waste to the facility at no cost to O.M. Scott. Last fall, the city spent a whopping $230,000 picking up leaves that were delivered for composting.

What did the citizens of Spokane County, and especially the residents of Colbert, receive in return? A big stink. This terrible smell has been likened by City Councilwoman Bev Numbers to “a hog pen.”

It is so foul that residents of the entire North Glen neighborhood had to confine themselves indoors with windows and doors closed for the entire summer season to keep the odor from invading the interior of their homes. They were deprived of normal summer activities.

The odor was not the only concern. What micro-organisms were being transported in the air for the residents in North Glen Estates to breathe? Some residents experienced runny noses, allergies, red eyes, coughing, dry and raspy throat, and a vague sense of discomfort.

To add insult to injury, many of us are now learning that the value of our homes has been substantially reduced due to the odor from the compost facility. What kind of deal is this?

It is worse than a free lunch for the O.M. Scott Co. It’s a banquet with champagne - at taxpayer expense.

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