Jeff Montgomery

The News Journal

Owners of a troubled and odor-plagued composting facility near the Port of Wilmington have halted new deliveries to the site, state regulators reported on Tuesday.

Officials with Peninsula Compost LLC could not be reached for details on the move, which came as the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control considers a company request to renew a key five-year permit for the 160,000-ton-per-year operation.

More than 200 people attended a recent public hearing on the permit renewal request, most opposing the move based on years of objectionable odors from the site. Residents have complained about lingering, garbagy-sweet odor for miles around the Christiana Avenue facility, including across the Delaware River in New Jersey and as far north as Claymont.

State officials said they have no information on the company’s current or longer-term plans.

“They have not said anything to DNREC one way or the other,” agency spokesman Michael Globetti said. “They’ve not indicated to us anything other than proceeding” with the permit decision.

DNREC has repeatedly sanctioned and fined the operation and required the company to assure coverage of shutdown and cleanup costs. Officials with Peninsula have earmarked $405,675 for the work via a trust agreement and irrevocable standby letter of credit, a state official said.

The company was welcomed by state and local officials when it opened with a plan to divert huge amounts of food and compostable waste from area landfills, including large amounts of spoiled and unmarketable fruit from the port. Developers said the plant would use high-tech fabrics and careful ventilation and management to rapidly convert wastes into compost and custom-mixed soil substitutes.

On Tuesday morning, much of the plant’s receiving area off Christiana Avenue was clear, while a front-end loader moved huge scoops of apparently finished compost from the south side of the road to a storage area on the north.

Contact Jeff Montgomery at (302) 463-3344 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.