GREENFIELD — The city continues to consider an anaerobic digester to take care of its sludge, but Department of Public Works Director Marlo Warner says the project is on hold indefinitely because of the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has turned things around, so we’re taking a step back for now, but we’re looking at all options, including eventually moving ahead with the project,” Warner said. “We need to have the funding, and that was halted when the pandemic hit.”
City Council had agreed to a budget of $4.1 million for the project that would be led by the DPW and would be located at the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant off Deerfield Street. Warner said it’s not clear how much the project would cost at this point or how much it will cost in the future, because it would depend on a number of issues, including whether Greenfield decides to go it alone or include other towns.
Warner said the city put the project on hold last winter, working with then-Mayor William Martin who was concerned with U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations that included requiring other towns that were interested in an inter-municipal agreement with Greenfield to form limited liability corporations (LLCs). It would have also taken away Greenfield’s control. Warner said he is now working closely with Mayor Roxann Wedegartner.
“It’s a little convoluted and complex, but it involved our plant and sludge disposal not being in our control any longer if we went the inter-municipal route,” Warner said. “This project is by no means dead, though. There might be plenty of opportunities to get grants and funding for the project.”
Warner said before the pandemic hit, Greenfield searched for an owner’s project manager but hadn’t gotten as far as hiring a consultant, engineer or designer.
“That would have been the second phase and the third would be the construction of the digester,” he said. “We’re pausing, but while doing so, we’re looking at other options, as well. It’s a moving target right now, so we felt a halt was appropriate.”
The city, at one point, said an anaerobic digester could pay for itself in saved money and eventually become a money-maker, and it found strong support under Warner’s leadership. He said that might still be true, but the pandemic has given the city more time to make sure.
Some councilors, at the time the project was presented to them in mid-2019, thought it was a “no-brainer.” If the city decides to build an anaerobic digester, it would no longer have to ship its sludge to either Lowell or Cranston, R.I. Instead, it would be taken care of on city property.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.