Carroll officials smelled the garbage, fingered the compost and mulled a question: Could the county turn its waste into a usable product?
Six county officials and the chairman of the citizens Waste-to-Energy Committee toured the Ferst Cos. composting plant Friday afternoon in Curtis Bay. The company president and chief executive officer said he'd be interested in talking to them about building and operating a similar plant in Carroll.
"Composting works," Ronald W. Pickett said. "We built this plant as a model."
The plant, at 5800 Chemical Road, accepted its first load of waste in January. Next January, Ferst will launch a national marketing campaign to try to build other plants, Mr. Pickett said.
Carroll officials are considering composting as a way to reduce the amount of garbage dumped in county landfills. Composting uses a natural decaying process to turn garbage into a peat moss-type product.
The Carroll officials also are considering building a waste-to-energy plant that would burn garbage and generate electricity. They are not close to making a decision.
During the Friday tour, Lloyd R. Helt Jr. of Westminster, the Waste-to-Energy Committee chairman, said Carroll should take "a wait-and-see" approach to new technology while it continues to recycle.
"We have landfill space for at least 10 years. Why rush it? Take your time, study the technology, be part of a regional plan," he said.
Carroll does not generate enough garbage to operate a composting plant or an incinerator on its own. Garbage from neighboring counties would have to be trucked in.
As Commissioner Elmer C. Lippy toured the plant, he said he compared it with a composting plant in Sevier County, Tenn., that county officials also have studied. A vice president of Bedminster Bioconversion Corp., of Cherry Hill, N.J., that operates the Sevier County plant, spoke to county officials two weeks ago.
Bedminster includes sludge in its composting process, which Mr. Lippy said was "a plus." Mr. Pickett said the Ferst process could be set up to compost sludge.
After the tour, Commissioner Donald I. Dell said he wasn't ready to comment on his impressions of the plant. Commissioner Julia W. Gouge did not attend.
Ferst invested $45 million in its plant, which can process 600 tons of garbage a day. Its only customer is Browning-Ferris Industries Inc., which has a 15-year contract.
