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County staff say Whitman County could need a $4'$5 million compost facility to meet organics rules
Summary
Staff and the director told the committee that a county-scale organics solution would require substantial capital: Great West's study estimated roughly $4.3 million initially and potentially more as prices climb. The committee discussed site cleanup, equipment, and staffing needs.
County staff briefed the Solid Waste Advisory Committee on the feasibility and likely cost of a Whitman County compost facility to meet evolving organics rules.
"Somewhere around $4.3 million, but as prices escalate it seems like it would not be unreasonable to say in 3 or 4 or 5 years it would be well over $5 million," Mark Storey said, summarizing the study numbers shared with the committee. David Nails confirmed site-prep and cleanup (including potential lead remediation on a former gun-range site), concrete pads, and equipment as primary cost drivers.
Committee members discussed operating choices: ship organics to an external facility versus on-site processing. Nails said Pullman is currently compliant for 2027 yard-waste requirements but that 2030 adds food waste, a more complex and costly collection and processing challenge. The county's Great West study and staff presentations will be brought back to a future meeting for more detailed budgeting and site-selection work.
