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Letter to the editor: Locals voice support of Boulder County compost site plans, south of Longmont

Member of SRL and the Coalition of Local Compost Action support the project.
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Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

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As members of Sustainable Resilient Longmont’s, or SRL, Zero Waste Committee, we support the efforts of Boulder County to create a facility to responsibly handle the organic waste produced by its 330,000 residents. We join with others in the Coalition for Local Compost Action to support this long-overdue, critically needed project proposed for a site south of Longmont. 

About 40% of Colorado’s waste now being landfilled is organic matter. Landfilling organics produces methane, a gas many times worse than CO2 in causing global warming. Composting organics instead alleviates this problem. Moreover, when compost is applied to our soil, the resulting carbon sequestration helps fight climate change and improves our poor air quality. SRL recognizes the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions going into the air. This also presents an opportunity to actively pull carbon from the air into the soil by using compost. The year 2020 set records for being the hottest year and having the most natural disasters — including Colorado's biggest wildfire ever. Creating a nearby source for finished compost can be a tremendous benefit for local farmers of all sizes, while greatly helping with our climate crisis.

The proposed facility has been designed specifically for a semi-urban setting, using proven, state-of-the art technology to control odors and protect water quality. It will accept food and yard waste from residences, restaurants, and grocery stores. It could benefit from the manure of area livestock. And it will use the huge amount of wood waste from local wildfire cleanup.

Boulder County residents have long supported environmental protections and programs. In 1994, Boulder County passed a tax to pay for both a recycling facility (built in 2001) and a compost facility; unfortunately, the costs for the former ended up delaying the latter. Western Disposal filled the void for a few years, but since 2018 has been hauling the county’s organic discards to Keenesburg, a costly, energy-inefficient, 100-mile round trip for each load. 

Boulder County has been searching for a good site for a publicly owned compost facility for many years, and asked RRS Consulting to help narrow down possible choices. The old Rainbow Nursery site, south of Colo. 52 and directly off Colo. 287, was the clear winner by virtue of its central location, good truck access, abundance of mature trees that will be retained, and proximity to the “heart” of Boulder County agriculture as a key intended end market. The site’s proximity to Longmont is a further advantage, since Longmont is expected to become the biggest municipality in the county by 2030. Funding for the design and construction of this facility will be paid for by the Sustainability Tax, approved by 70% of Boulder County voters in 2016.

The Zero Waste Committee has been working with Longmont city staff and speaking with city council as Longmont is currently revising its Waste Services program. We're especially advocating for establishing ways to keep organics from the landfill. A regional, publicly owned composting operation is best suited to meet the increased capacity needed to service the growing population of Longmont and the rest of Boulder County. 

Sadly, a group of neighboring property owners has been very vocal expressing their objection to this proposed facility and have filed a lawsuit alleging improper process by county officials. But the reality of climate chaos calls us to look at the big picture. Unfortunately, there seems to be increasing suspicion of government in general, viewing disagreements as a zero-sum game with only a winner and a loser. Two of the authors of this editorial have been actively involved in Boulder County as residents for 74 years combined. In our experience, Boulder County officials have consistently conducted county business with transparency and integrity, followed the proper channels that county attorneys advised, and been responsive to public concerns. We are confident Boulder County will continue to work with area property owners to resolve issues and hope all concerned will be willing to work together to find a way forward with this very worthy project. 

The vision of a circular organic materials system that benefits communities, businesses, farmers, residents, and our climate is finally within reach. Please email our three County Commissioners to express your support for this valuable facility at this location (https://www.bouldercounty.org/government/elected-officials/commissioners/contact-the-commissioners).

Written by Longmont residents Naomi Curland, Abby Driscoll, Mary Headley & Shari Malloy. Naomi is Chair of the Zero Waste Committee and Executive Director of Longmont Food Rescue. Abby is Board Chair of SRL, Mary is a retired technical editor and Shari a retired SVVSD special ed teacher.


Editor's note: Among the partners and supporters listed on the Coalition for Local Compost Climate Action website is Eco-Cycle, which is the county-owned Boulder County Recycling Center