New Jersey compost to gas company threatened with closure by DEP.

[NNadir]

Eastern Organic Resources has big plans for the decomposing fruit, vegetables and grass clippings it collects at its composting plant in Springfield, Burlington County, hoping to enclose the pungent piles and generate enough methane gas to power a 5-megawatt cogeneration plant at neighboring McGuire Air Force Base.

If the company wins approval from regulators, it would be the first commercial food waste composter in the state to produce both soil and fuel, solid waste experts say.

On paper, the plan is the sort New Jersey policy-makers applaud. It keeps garbage out of the landfill while also providing a renewable fuel source to a close neighbor...

...The company received a letter last month from the DEP threatening to terminate a 2005 agreement the agency reached with the company over environmental management issues such as water storage, wetlands disturbance and odor control, saying it had failed to comply.

A spokeswoman for the agency, Elaine Makatura, said regulators could move to stop operations at the site.

"That's one end of the equation," she said...

...Makatura said the DEP is nonetheless obliged to closely scrutinize the project.

"We encourage this sort of technology, but the bottom line is that it must be done right, without adversely affecting the health and well-being of the neighbors," Makatura said. "This, too, could create odors if it's not properly contained."

Even some residents are ambivalent...

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