Concerns about Olympic Organics appear to be largely unfounded, according to three agencies that govern it.
Olympic Organics, on Ecology Road in Kingston, was acquired in fall of 2022 by DTG Enterprises Inc., which has been under investigation in places like Yakima, but the agencies have had no issues with this operation. DTG also bought the Olympic Organics in Bremerton.
The Kitsap Daily News was asked to investigate the business due to odor, birds and various processes not being followed. But the Kitsap Public Health District, state Department of Ecology and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency give it mostly a clean bill of health.
Steve Brown, KPHD program manager for Solid & Hazardous Waste, said former owners and operators worked with the public to be good neighbors. “I suppose time will tell if DTG, as the new owners of OO, will carry on with that philosophy.”
Brown inspected Olympic Organics in Kingston June 14, and it was his first chance to meet its new compliance officer and see the facility since the ownership change. “We found no violations of their Solid Waste Handling (Composting) operating permit,” he says in an email.
He added Olympic Organics had the required 12-inch biofilter in place on all their curing piles of compost. “There was no odor that I could detect while standing at the rim of their leachate pond, and they were below their permitted capacity of 22,000 cubic yards of total materials (feedstocks, curing compost and finished compost) on-site at the time,” he says.
KPHD said other concerns are not an issue either.
Stormwater runoff from the compost piles is diverted into a leachate catch basin that drains into the lined, aerated collection pond.
Brown explained that Olympic Organic’s Operation Plan calls for processing up to 40,000 cubic yards per year. In 2021, the facility accepted just under 25,000 tons of feedstocks.
He did not comment about how trucking feedstocks from King County adds to pollution and gridlock, but he did say state law, along with Olympic Organic’s permit and Operations Plan, does not address where feedstocks come from.
Brown said KPHD conducts quarterly inspections to ensure the facility is complying with its solid waste handling permit. Olympic Organics also submits an annual report to KPHD and to the DOE detailing quantities of incoming feedstocks and compost produced, which is a self-reporting process.
DTG Recycle did not respond to a number of questions emailed to them, but representative Seth Kaulfuss did make some general comments. He said DTG has worked with KPHD and PSCAA to operate in compliance with its plan of operations.
Referring to one of the complaints, Kaulfuss said there is no prohibition against processing material from King County, adding, for example, that Cedar Grove has been processing King County’s material at its Everett facility in Snohomish County for years.
History
The facility originally opened in 2008 as Emu Topsoil, but it went bankrupt in 2013. In 2014, the mission of the new owners, Olympic Organics, was to keep feedstocks out of landfills and to “create a variety of high-quality nutrient-rich soils by using modern science, technology and best management practices, nature’s own methods of returning organic materials into the environment.”
When DTG took over, CEO Tom Vaughn says in a news release that the facility would produce compost, soil blends, soil amendments, mulches and landscaping products that would be used on-site and sold to the public, wholesalers and other users. Of the 8.4-acre site, 1.6 acres is concrete for receiving, mixing, grinding, composting and curing feedstocks. A buffer around the site would control odor. It would be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week.
Staff would look out for non-allowed materials, which would go to a transfer station. Items not accepted are: liquids, painted or treated wood, plastic, soil and rocks, solid waste from cities, demolition debris from buildings and insulation roofing.
As for complaints, the company plan says it “will treat each neighbor with respect and record any issues they may have.” The facility will respond within three days with a full site inspection.
The news release says the company plans to add mattresses, Styrofoam, construction and demolition recycling to the Kingston location. As for when that might happen, if at all, Kaulfuss would just say, “We are constantly looking for ways to add additional recycling opportunities for the residents of the communities we serve.”
Department of Ecology
As for the investigation elsewhere regarding DTG, in December 2022 DOE sampled 12 wells at nearby homes of DTG’s Anderson Landfill in Yakima. It found no evidence of contaminated drinking water. The testing was done after neighbors expressed concern.
However, slight amounts of harmful chemicals were found in emissions. DTG is working with DOE and the Yakima Health District on a work plan to address that issue. “We do not believe emissions from the landfill pose an immediate environmental health threat to the public,” the DOE reports.
As for the Kingston Olympic Organics plant, DOE received annual reports from 2018-22 as required. It notes no irregularities. It says there are no new solid waste activities, and there were no changes in management practices.
The reports show all of the feedstocks came from Kitsap County last year, but prior to DTG taking over Olympic Organics did have intake from King, and to a lesser extent, Pierce counties. It did take in more yard debris last year, but more food scraps and manure were brought there in 2020. The most compost it produced was in 2021.
