Wood-chipping business could replace composter

By: Stephanie Prokop
   SPRINGFIELD — As Eastern Organic Resources’ legal struggles in the township continue, a new company has expressed interest in taking over the composting facility on Saylor’s Pond Road.
   The company became a source of controversy soon after opening its doors in 2003 because of the air and water pollution that local residents claimed EOR — locally known as Woodhue Recycling Center — produced. The 156-acre site on Saylor’s Pond Road billed itself as the largest organic composting facility on the East Coast.
   The DEP revoked the company’s operating permit last year, but the property is still owned by EOR/Woodhue. In January, a court proceeding ruled that Woodhue could continue with some of its recycling operations, except food and vegetable processing.
   "As far as I know EOR has claimed that they have lost upwards of $7 million, and they are trying to recoup some of those losses," said Councilman Peter Sobotka.
   The company now looking at the site, Reliable Wood Products, of West Orange, would chip wood to use it in landscaping. "They would basically just be grinding up large trees," said Mr. Sobotka.
   "If they did any composting it would be leaves or small branches," he added.
   The timeline for Reliable Wood Products to come in and start operations on the site is still unclear, said township officials.
   According to Mayor William Pettit and Mr. Sobotka, Woodhue met with the assistant director of the state Department of Environmental Protection on June 7 to discuss its disputed permit.
   DEP and Woodhue have not returned calls from the Register-News concerning the talks.
   On June 9, 2006, the DEP announced that it was seeking over $1.5 million in fines from EOR and that it had revoked the company’s operating permit in response to what the agency claimed were unacceptable levels of pollutants in nearby stream water.
   In late August 2006, the township Board of Health had sent a letter to residents to inform them that the company voluntarily ceased vegetative waste processing, and urged residents to call if they still smelled a foul odor, according to Mr. Sobotka. He also said there have been odor complaints to the Board of Health since the company stopped accepting vegetative waste.
   The Township Council said at its June 13 meeting it saw the possibility of Reliable Wood Products coming to the Saylor’s Road Site as a positive development.
   According to its Web site, Reliable Wood Products is a privately held vegetative waste and wood waste recycling company, that converts these materials into organic and color-enhanced ground cover and mulches for the commercial landscape trade. According to Mayor Pettit, the company also has contracts to supply Lowe’s and Home Depot with its products.
   "They have ensured us that there will be no crude waste of any kind," said Mayor Pettit. "If there is anything objectionable, it would concern them grinding wood, not anything to do with odor."
   Mr. Sobotka said Woodhue has until September to remove its material from the site.
   Some residents at the June 13 Township Council meeting said they were concerned over whether there was something that the council could do to make sure that Woodhue doesn’t again receive permission to compost vegetative matter.
   The Township Council explained that the township’s jurisdiction is completely superceded by the DEP’s control over Woodhue’s permits.
   "We are still requesting that residents write letters of complaint to the company stating ‘Let’s not repeat the same thing again,’" said Mr. Sobotka at the council meeting.
   Mayor Pettit summed up the uncertainty about the current proceedings when he said to the residents at the council meeting, "You know about as much as we know right now."