MISSOULA — Citing concern over a specific “forever chemical” found in the compost produced at Garden City Compost, the Missoula City Council on Wednesday pledged to follow best practices to address the issue and work with state experts to minimize any potential hazard.
Until that happens, the city will move forward with a roughly $8 million project to bring the compost facility up to industry standards before a portion of the funding, provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, vanishes at the end of the year.
“State law requires composting to be done on impervious surfaces, but we were granted some period of time to continue composting on basically gravel that can leach into the ground,” said Logan McInnis, deputy director of utilities for Public Works. “This project is about bringing us into compliance with the state law.”
The composting facility ensures that Missoula has a “reliable, environmentally responsible way” of managing biosolids produced by the wastewater treatment plant. The city purchased the facility in 2017 from Eco Compost and is now looking to bring the plant up to state and federal standards.
Among other things, the project will increase the facility's future capacity, reduce odors and create an impermeable surface to prevent the product from leaching into the ground.
But some residents recently became aware of a Montana PBS report that tested and found that Missoula's compost contained elevated levels of PFAS, a synthetic chemical used in various consumer and industrial products ranging from popcorn bags to Teflon and firefighting foam.
The compound, sometimes referred to as a “forever chemical,” now pervades the planet and represents a global problem not easily addressed. The compound is found in the rain and dust, and generally everywhere else, McInnis said.
“We're passive receivers of this material at our wastewater facility. They're coming in from every house and business that discharges to our (wastewater) facility. These compounds pass through our wastewater process, into our biosolids and into our compost,” he said.
McInnis said current best practices offer three ways of handling the material, including the landfill, incineration and land applications — the latter practiced by the city. But none destroy the compound in any significant way, he said.
“The levels we have within our compost are well within the recommended levels of land application by states that are leaders in studying this issue,” McInnis said. “We pay a lot of attention to the available research.”
The city also hired a national consultant to evaluate the options available to Missoula in dealing with PFAS. McInnis said responsible composting was the leading recommendation.
“Producing compost remains the most responsible method to process bio-solids while diverting thousands of tons of green waste from our landfill every year,” he said. “We believe that improving our composting facility is our best course of action until broader solutions for PFAS can be developed.”
Chemical concerns
With the funding earmarked for improvements to the composting facility being time sensitive, members of the City Council's Public Works and Mobility Committee on Wednesday voted 8-1 to move forward with the project.
But two members of the public urged the city to stop producing compost until the chemical compounds are addressed. Doing otherwise makes the city culpable in spreading PFAS to gardens and other parts of Missoula, they argued.
“The prudent thing for the City of Missoula to do, for the safety and health of our city, would be to immediately pause this product,” said resident William Fleischman. “While PFAS is ubiquitous in our environment, Garden City Compost concentrates this poison, then spreads it around, so far, indiscriminately.”
But some members of City Council said the science on the dangers and concentration of PFAS has offered no clear consensus. Council member Bob Campbell said, “There's no clear proof anywhere that this stuff is harmful at these low levels.”
“Other than putting a dome over the entire City of Missoula, I don't know how we practically keep (PFAS) separate from the remainder of the community,” he said. “Hopefully, someday technology will evolve to remove PFAS from the environment, but as it stands right now, we manage it in the best way that's technologically possible. The rain itself is introducing more PFAS.”
Other members of council said that while the issue should be further explored with environmental experts at the state, making improvements now to the composting facility marks a step in the right direction.
“This will help us improve the facility to do a better job of composting in our community and ultimately help address issues like PFAS,” said council member Daniel Carlino. “It makes sense to go forward with the improvements, but I don't think we should brush this issue under the rug. I do think it's a serious issue.”
