Biosolids deal called off

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The city of Yakima has pulled the plug on a proposed deal with two local farms that drew public opposition for its use of treated human waste as fertilizer.

The city currently pays a Sunnyside company to get rid of waste and was looking at options to move the matter for free. The savings for the city was projected at about $150,000.

On Wednesday, the city's Planning Department formally withdrew an environmental review of the proposed deal.

The decision was expected.

Representatives of Roy Farms had said they were going to back out even before a public forum designed to allay fears about the deal was held last month at the Yakima Area Arboretum.

But the forum went badly for the city, according to city officials, who concede they have a long way to go in educating the public about biosolids.

"I feel like I got the wind knocked out of me," Tim Cooper, biosolids chief operator for the Yakima Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, said. "If somebody's interested in this material, that would be nice. Give me a call."

Biosolids is the term of art in the wastewater industry for human waste that has been processed through a series of dewatering and cooking into a gel-like state that is considered safe for use as a fertilizer.

The city currently pays Sunnyside-based Natural Selections Farms to dispose of the 8,500 tons of sludge the wastewater plant generates annually. The company then "land-applies" the material to client farms throughout the Lower Valley.

Looking for ways to save money, the city was negotiating with Roy Farms of Moxee and WS Farms of Zillah to take the material for free. Along with reduced fuel costs for delivery, savings were estimated at $150,000 or more a year.

But the plan went awry due to growing opposition from neighbors of the farms. The residents of the Hi Valley View subdivision in Terrace Heights, which sits adjacent to a field owned by Roy Farms, were especially vocal about the potential for odor, dust and truck traffic.

Mike Roy said nothing that happened at the forum changed their minds. Roy added that opposition from breweries was also a factor in the company's decision to nix the deal. One of the company's major products is hops, a key ingredient in beer.

Even so, he voiced his own concerns about growing conflict between suburbanites and the agricultural industry that forms the backbone of the region's economy.

"It's something we as a community need to deal with," he said of biosolids, adding, "The residential pressure is going to keep increasing around here for years to come."