What's New
A
Waste of Waste
Boston Globe
By, Martin Finucane, Globe Staff - June 3, 2008
Call
it a waste of waste.
The
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority hasn't been taking advantage of a
contract that entitled it to hundreds of tons of fertilizer pellets a year
from a Quincy plant that converts sewage sludge into fertilizer, the state
auditor's office said today.
Under
its $146 million, 15-year contract with New England Fertilizer Co. that
began in 2001, the MWRA sends sewage sludge to the plant at the Fore River
Shipyard for processing. One provision in the contract calls for the MWRA
to receive 900 tons of pellets, which it can sell commercially or donate
to local governments or state agencies.
But
the MWRA's efforts to pick up the pellets have declined, said Glenn Briere,
a spokesman for State Auditor Joe DeNucci.
"I
don't think they were even bothering with this," Briere said.
Briere
said the MWRA has now told auditors, however, that it will notify
communities that the fertilizer is available for free, if they want to
pick it up from the plant.
"If
you have a city and town that wants to grow grass on their playgrounds or
their parks, it's theirs for the taking," he said.
MWRA
spokeswoman Ria Convery said the MWRA initially had been picking up the
sludge and delivering it to communities that were interested in it, but a
budget crunch in 2003 had made that too expensive.
"A
few people still come, but it's not the same as it was. ... We take the
findings seriously and we're going to do a renewed effort" to reach
out to communities to let them know the fertilizer is available, she said.