CleanBay chicken litter project clears one hurdle
A chicken litter recycling operation south of Georgetown has moved a step closer to reality.
Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval of a conditional-use application filed by CleanBay Renewables LLC Sussex 1 for a chicken litter nutrient recovery/electrical generation facility on a 17-acre parcel at the intersection of Route 113 and Breasure Road.
At its Feb. 8 meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to recommend approval. Sussex County Council – which makes the final decision – will have a public hearing on the application at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 20, in the county administration building, 2 The Circle, Georgetown.
The same company had previously submitted an application for two plants on 53 acres along Route 9 east of Georgetown. In July, the planning and zoning commission recommended denial of the application, and the developer withdrew the application before a scheduled county council public hearing.
The proposed 490,000-square-foot facility is a scaled-down version of the original project.
In his motion for approval, Commissioner Bob Wheatley said the project would benefit the county's poultry industry as a reuse of litter from chicken houses in addition to an alternative energy source. He said with no more than 12 deliveries per day, traffic impact would be minor. Wheatley said the proposed project complies with the county's land-use plan to preserve the agricultural economy.
In addition, the commission approved Wheatley's recommendation that the applicant provide a baseline water quality sample for analysis with the final report submitted to the county's planning and zoning office.
Developer says safeguards are in place
During the commission's Jan. 25 hearing, neighbors opposed the project because of their concerns with additional truck traffic, lighting, noise, and possible odors and water contamination.
Thomas Spangler, owner and founder of the company, testified that safeguards include an air filtration system to capture odors during unloading, enclosed state-of-the-art generators to cut down on noise, and a closed-loop system within the plant with no wastewater discharge.
Spangler said an odor-control system would be in place to capture any odors within a few feet of the loading area. In addition, he said, trucks would not dump the litter, but would use a built-in conveyor system to unload covered trucks.
The plant would process 250 tons of litter per day during a 24-hour operation. Spangler said 12 trucks a day would deliver litter to the plant; six trucks would leave with nutrient material and granular phosphorus. Each truck holds 23 tons.
Spangler said methane gas would be produced using an enclosed anaerobic digestive/fermentation process that would power generators to provide electricity to the grid. He said his company has signed a contract with Delaware Electric Cooperative to purchase the electricity.
Spangler said not all litter would be converted to methane gas; it would be recycled through a nutrient recovery facility where phosphorus and nitrogen in the litter would be separated into two products. A granular phosphorus product would be trucked to markets in the Midwest where it is in great demand. Leftover nitrogen would be turned into a soil product and sold to fertilizer companies.
Among planning and zoning commission conditions:
Generators must have sound-suppression measures
Trucks must be covered and enclosed with no open dumping of material
No outside storage
Immediate off-loading of trucks in an enclosed system
Hours would be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Saturday with no more than 12 truck deliveries per day
A 30-foot forested/landscaped buffer in all buffer areas
Compliance with all state agency regulations
Buildings must have an agricultural style.
