Residents say something rotten at composting facility

Residents who live in the area of Draper Road near Milford say odors from a nearby composting facility are at times overwhelming. The owner says he is working to fix the problem by upgrading odor abatement equipment.

But the larger problem may be that the commercial operation has been operating illegally on agricultural-residential, AR-1, zoned land since it began in 2004. Owner Bruce Blessing has always contended the property was zoned for commercial use.

More than a decade after he received the first permit to operate the facility, a Sussex County official has confirmed the property is zoned AR-1 and approval of a conditional-use application will be required for the operation to continue. Janelle Cornwell, county planning and zoning manager, said Blessing is expected to submit an application within a month. Once the application is filed, public hearings before the county's planning and zoning commission and county council will be scheduled.

Blessing, owner of of Blessing's Blends, spent about an hour explaining his composting operation during a June 30 meeting with Prime Hook Concerned Citizens sponsored by the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project.

Blessing said he has complied with every environmental regulation through a series of three permits granted by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

His explanation didn't seem to satisfy some area residents who still complained of odors coming from the facility.

"There is something in that stuff. It makes you want to throw up," said one resident. "The smell is rancid and you have to hold your breath when you go outside. Just allow me to open my windows. Something is not right and you know it. We want you to have your business, but it smells like pure human sewage."

"Never in 10 years of doing this have I smelled an odor like on your property," said the project's consultant Maria Payan, adding she grew up in farming areas and is familiar with all types of agricultural odors. "They are only asking you to be a good neighbor."

Blessing admitted that the facility does have odors, especially when piles of compost are turned over and reworked. "We limit our operation when the wind is blowing east toward our neighbors," he said. He also said the odor can be worse during wet periods.

He said by the end of the year, most of the odor should dissipate as new technology is installed to better contain odors by pulling the air from underneath and not exhausting it out. "And I have spent an enormous amount of money for containment on site," he said.

Residents asked Blessing what materials are in the large compost piles on the parcel. He said he only accepts yard waste from landscapers and residents and only charges a tipping fee if they haul in more than 500 pounds.

According to Blessing's website, the company offers premium compost, potting mix, organic plant food and topsoil. He also sells flowers grown in his greenhouses at a stand along Route 1.

The website also notes: "Our premium compost is blended from ingredients acceptable for use in certified organic crop production. All of our products are blended with varying quantities of our premium compost which includes horse and poultry manure, leaves, hay, mature compost, egg shells, recycled trees and lumber. We do not use sewer sludge."

"What is that smell?" Payan asked.

"It's organic matter; its the nature of it," Blessing answered. "I know you are looking for a smoking gun."

"I'm looking for the truth," Payan said.

Payan said residents have been complaining about odors and flies since an April 2012 Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control public hearing.

Other issues surface at meeting

The odor was not the only concern that surfaced during the meeting at the Milton library. Payan said water quality and zoning of the parcel where the facility is located are also concerns. She claims the owner has not complied with a DNREC secretary's order levied against him in March 2012, and the facility is on land not zoned for a commercial operation.

Payan pointed out that the composting facility is located within a few feet of Slaughter Creek, a stream that feeds into nearby Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. She said water samples she took this spring show high levels of contaminants. "We've got some problems there," she said. "We are asking DNREC where is the enforcement?"

Blessing said that tests from his monitoring wells are in accordance with state standards.

Blessing was cited by DNREC in December 2010 for discharging stormwater within 50 feet of a wetland. He did not contest the citation and paid a $7,540 fine and reimbursed DNREC more than $1,000. In retrospect, Blessing said, he should not have paid the fine because there never was a stormwater discharge on the property.

That citation resulted in a 2012 DNREC secretary's order that included – among other stipulations – improved stormwater management and moving the operation into enclosed areas with concrete floors. Payan disputed Blessing's assertion that all of the stipulations have been met.

The order was then amended two years later. "There were and/or options added," he said, citing an example of one that ordered him to cover the material or put monitoring wells in place. He chose monitoring wells.

Blessing said that Payan's documents are not up to date. "I'm in compliance with the amended secretary's order," he said. "Could the facility be better – certainly," he said. "But I do not have compliance issues. There is nothing toxic there."

He said he does not accept animal waste or sludge but only yard waste that he turns into compost and not mulch. The process takes years – one large pile at the site has been in place for six years and faces another three years before it will be ready for sale, Blessing said.

He said he has 100 percent containment on site with monitoring wells in place. Buffers have been upgraded, some piles are on concrete pads, liners are in use and some piles are indoors, he said.

Blessing said he no longer uses land application as part of his operation. Blessing said he is more than willing to speak to people who have issues with his operation or they can contact him at blessingsblends@gmail.com.

Payan said she is in the process of obtaining more information from DNREC to decide what course of action to take.