COMPOST CO. SNIFFS OUT EASTIE
City mulls new use for fuel tank area
A massive composting facility with the potential to take in more than 300 tons of waste a day is vying to take over a dilapidated waterfront site in East Boston and developers say the proposal would be an environmental benefit that won’t stink up the town.
“Any potential odors are nothing anyone needs to be concerned about,” Susie Chin, CEO of recycling company Citywide Organics, told the Herald.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority is looking for developers for the old Hess fuel tanker site on Condor Street and held a public discussion of proposals from Citywide Organics, Eastern Salt Company and the East Boston Community Development Corp. yesterday.
BRA Director of Real Estate Ed O’Donnell said staff have not yet made a recommendation on which plan to pursue but noted the organization is looking for industrial use with some waterfront access and not to use the area entirely as open space.
Eastern Salt’s plan would create a large unloading and storage area primarily for the salt it uses for wintertime street clearing. The EBCDC plan creates new space for bridge maintenance company Cora Operations, diving contractors Semper Diving and Marine, and East Boston-based Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina, EBCDC president Albert Caldarelli said.
Citywide’s plan calls for bringing up to 334 tons of organic waste to the site every day by barge and truck, where it will go through various chemical processes turning it into fertilizer, gas, electricity and compost. State law forbids commercial organic waste from being dumped in landfills, and Chin said a new site would reduce Boston’s greenhouse gases and give the city more disposal options.
Chin said the waste would be covered when it’s brought to the site and moved directly into processing facilities, which would keep foul odors from bothering residents.
Citywide’s proposal calls for creating a greenhouse on site and a harbor walkway. The company’s goal is to limit incoming waste delivery trucks to 10 per day. Gail Miller, of local conservation activists Chelsea Creek Action Group, said she was worried that more trucks would be the norm and that odor could still be an issue.
“Everything sounds good on paper until you start living with it,” Miller said, adding that her group and other residents are still pushing for the land to be completely turned into open space.