Trent Hills – A proposed organic fertilizer facility in Warkworth will use waste from chicken and hog farms, slaughter houses, meat processing plants, cold storage food facilities and pulp and paper plants to provide the right balance of protein, nitrogen and carbon for its product, says the president of Bio Balance Fertilizer Inc.

In a preview of this week’s public meeting at the Warkworth Legion, Don Carr described what his company is proposing to build and answered questions at council’s Feb. 2 meeting held at the Hastings Civic Centre. Carr also heard concerns from council members and residents about potential threats to local groundwater and the odour that could emanate from the facility, to be located at the site of the old Warkworth cheese factory on County Road 25.

“The community has a lot of concerns, and council has a lot of concerns and questions about it too,” Mayor Hector Macmillan said. “And my biggest concern about all of this is the odour.”

Macmillan said he has visited numerous composting facilities and has yet to find one with “a very friendly odour.”

Warkworth resident and local business owner Kim MacNeil said she is concerned that “the pretty little town of Warkworth” will end up with “an odour floating over it,” even though the proposed fertilizer facility is expected to exceed standards set by the Ministry of the Environment.

“I think we need to understand what the MOE standard smells like,” she said.

In response to a series of written questions from the municipality, Carr said the facility’s “advanced composting system” will use “a carbon balanced recipe that diminishes the potential for odours from the start of the process.” In addition, the system will use negative air pressure on the covered compost piles to keep odours in check.

Carr stressed that proper managing of the material coming into the facility is an important factor in controlling odour.

“If you have stuff coming in that you don’t know about, then it is difficult to manage.”

Councillor Dean Peters raised questions about the impact the facility could have on local groundwater. Pointing out that sandy soil predominates in the area around the old cheese factory, he asked Carr if he would be using some sort of containment system.

Carr said the company plans to level the 11-acre property and cover the 3.3-acre portion that will be the site of the facility with an emulsion that will form “an asphalt-like impermeable surface that is very environmentally friendly.”