DNREC Secretary David Small has issued a Conciliation Order to Peninsula Compost Company, LLC that extends the closing deadline of Peninsula’s Wilmington facility by three months to June 30.
The DNREC order – agreed to by Peninsula Compost – sets penalties of $10,000 per day beyond June 30 for every day that Peninsula fails to complete the closing activities.
Peninsula had requested the extension earlier this year in a letter to Small that cited “operational and resource limitations for the facility (that) made it impractical to meet the schedule that was set forth in the Secretary’s Order” requiring the company to cease operations.
Peninsula Compost Company also has agreed to drop its appeal of DNREC’s original closure order and waive its right to appeal the conciliation order.
The Peninsula Compost Company began operating the Wilmington Organic Recycling Center in December 2009 with approval from DNREC via a Beneficial Use Determination (BUD) permit. However, the site near the Port of Wilmington continued to receive complaints about odors.
On Oct. 20, 2014, Peninsula’s request to renew the BUD was denied and a DNREC Secretary’s Order was issued requiring the facility to immediately stop accepting incoming materials and to close the facility by March 31. including complete removal of all materials from the site. The majority of material remaining at the site is finished compost and not food wastes or feedstock that, in the past, was blamed for the odors
The order with attached Amended Composting Approval for Closure Activities can be found on DNREC’s Website.
