Another composting site faces Act 250

 Published: Friday, January 25, 2008

This week's decision about Vermont Compost Co. gives legislators more impetus for reviewing the regulations governing composting operations, said House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Zuckerman, P-Burlington. His committee heard from state officials Wednesday who affirmed that composting is important to the state and from members of the Composting Association of Vermont who said regulations are confusing and meeting the benchmark that at least 51 percent of the materials must be generated on the farm is difficult.

Hammer operates a farm on his Montpelier land, with 1,200 chickens, four mules and three donkeys, producing eggs, vegetables and flowers. Most of his 45 acres on the outskirts of the city qualifies as a farm and is exempt from Act 250, but the composting that Hammer does there is not because more than half the composting materials come from off-site, said Edward Stanak, District 5 Environmental Commission coordinator.

Hammer's East Montpelier site is on 11 acres owned by Fairmont Farms off Vincent Flats Road. Vermont Compost Co. buys compostable material from Fairmont. That transaction transforms the material from an agricultural product to a commercial one, no longer exempt from Act 250, Stanak ruled.

Hammer said the decision gives advantage to large farms and works against two neighbors trying to work together.

Hammer's Montpelier neighbor, Barbara LaRosa, who has complained to the state and city about the composting operation, said she was relieved to hear that the operation would come under land-use regulations.

"The concept is good, but I don't like the food waste that the crows and the gulls drop on my property," LaRosa said. The food waste poses risks for her dog, she said, and attracts rats. She said she's also concerned about the groundwater, as the composting operation is 10 feet from her well. The composting operation has grown in the seven years since the LaRosas moved in, she said.

"It's very difficult living next to him," she said.

LaRosa said she hopes the Act 250 regulations will solve her problems. "I would hope somebody could say the vectors should be controlled, that the truck traffic should be controlled, the runoff should be controlled."

Hammer said, however, that one way he might deal with the situation is to expand his Montpelier farm and shift the balance of materials so that he is producing more than half on-site. That, he noted, is unlikely to solve the LaRosas' concerns.

Stanak said Hammer can ask for a reconsideration of the ruling. He also said the Act 250 application process is not necessarily long or expensive. Many small company owners manage the application without hiring experts, he said. "It's not impossible to be done in three to four weeks."

Bob Foster, a Middlebury dairy farmer who runs a large composting operation and is president of the Composting Association of Vermont, told the House Agriculture Committee that the regulations are confusing. "It's not a one-stop shop anymore," he said.

The association will start meetings in April that focus on finding solutions, he said. "I see it as a real opportunity as a growth industry for the state."

Agency of Natural Resources Secretary George Crombie said the state supports composting and will work with the association on regulations, but that there is also potential harm to the environment. "The environment has a certain capacity," he said. "We want to ensure that capacity is not violated."

Contact Terri Hallenbeck at 229-1297 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it