CWU's Verhey To Help Solve Local Waste Disposal Problem

March 15, 2004

Contact: Molly Fortin (509-963-1493/fax 509-963-2301/e-mail: fortinm@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- Many of us are familiar with the story of Rumpelstiltskin: a strange little man helps a beautiful miller's daughter spin straw into gold for a greedy king. The Brothers Grimm tale is a classic example of transforming waste material into a valuable commodity. This is precisely the goal that Dr. Steven Verhey, Central Washington University biology professor, has for central Washington's mint oil industry.

Working with Quincy Farm Chemicals (QFC), an agricultural supply company in Quincy, Wash., Verhey proposed and received "The Rumpelstiltskin Project: Adding Value to Agricultural and Biosolid Wastes" from the Washington Technology Center. The $35,676, nine-month grant is aimed at taking a waste product - mint residue - and turning it into a product that can be sold - compost.

"I see this as an opportunity for CWU to provide expertise to try and solve local environmental problems, which is part of our mission," Verhey said.

Central Washington is the third largest mint-producing region in the country. Washington state produces approximately 25 percent of U.S. mint oils, at a total value of more than $33 million.

The extraction of mint oil produces large quantities of waste plant material, which is a potential source of high-quality compost. However, central Washington's mint waste is currently virtually unused, resulting in a growing waste disposal problem.

"For every pound of mint oil produced, about 500 pounds of compostable waste is produced," Verhey said. "We're talking about a volume of potential waste material of well over 100,000 cubic yards that's out there waiting for a solution."

Traditionally, growers have two approaches for dealing with the waste: they store it in piles or spread it over fields. A serious problem with the first strategy is the tendency for the waste material to spontaneously combust.

"Mint waste fires were fairly common until the Department of Ecology got really serious about enforcing the regulations after one grower's waste pile caught fire," Verhey said. "Smoke from the fire obscured a local highway and caused a multiple car accident and a fatality."

The problem with the strategy of spreading mint waste on fields is that as the material decomposes, it pulls nitrogen from the soil instead of making it available for plants.

"With compost, you allow that decomposition to happen first and then put it into the soil," Verhey said. "This makes the nitrogen available in a slow release format so the plants have access to it over a long period of time."

Compost, an alternative to chemical fertilizers, is becoming increasingly important to production agriculture. It offers benefits beyond the nutrients; as a result, high-quality compost is difficult to find and is also sought after by gardeners and landscapers.

Verhey hopes to turn mint waste into a high-quality compost product that can be sold by his industry partner under the grant, Quincy Farm Chemicals.

Along with a collaborator from Washington State University, compost expert Lynne Carpenter-Boggs, Verhey and QFC will be working to: analyze the local mint feedstocks for composting potential; develop recipes likely to produce high-quality compost; and produce and test the compost for fertilizer use.

"Our industry partner, Quincy Farm Chemicals, was visionary enough to see this waste as potential resource," Verhey said. "It's a perfect partnership. Quincy is interested in the business side, but isn't equipped to do the scientific recipe development side of the project. So we complement each other really well."

The Washington Technology Center is interested in creating jobs and economic development in central Washington, according to Verhey.

Under the grant, Verhey projects that in three years, from 8 to 12 direct and indirect jobs could be created as a result of the Rumpelstiltskin Project. His five-year projection is as many as 20 to 28 new jobs for the economy.