Compost Site’s Stench Keeping Business Away

The Pierce County Health Department has received 200 complaints since June about a rotten-egg stench coming from a 12-acre compost site near here.

The smell from Northwest Cascade Co. is so bad that merchants contend they are losing business and residents contend it’s hard to sleep at night.

“It’s like taking your pillow and blanket and going inside an undeodorized Honey Bucket (portable toilet) and sleeping there,” said Michelle Osborne, who lives near the compost operation.

The company combines grass cuttings, leaves and wood waste with treated sewage sludge to make Nutramulch, a soil enricher and cover.

Northwest Cascade President Steve Barger said the company is committed to solving the odor problem.

The company’s solid waste handling permit is up for renewal next Thursday, and some people are urging the renewal be denied.

But the county is inclined to give Northwest Cascade a chance to see if a new odor control plan works, said health department spokesman Ron Norton.

Northwest Cascade already is nine months overdue on its long-term odor management plan, which was supposed to have been given to the county last Jan. 15, Norton said.

At a community meeting on Wednesday, Barger publicly apologized for the smell.

Northwest Cascade spent $500,000 on new equipment and operational changes about six months ago to reduce odors, but the strategy failed.

“It was an expensive mistake,” Barger said. “We’re sorry.”

He outlined a new plan to reduce the stench within 30 to 60 days. Part of the plan is to cover the piles with a foot-deep layer of sawdust and shredded wood waste, but he couldn’t promise it would end the problem.

“We shouldn’t have to live with this,” said resident David Fogle. “We want the odor eliminated.”

He contends his wife has suffered from asthma attacks because of the smell.