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Neighbors turn up their noses Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Keith Emerson, manager of Bear Creek orchard development, walks through nearly finished compost behind the company's operations on South Pacific Highway. In the background, a worker loads raw materials to be composted. By J. T. BUSHNELL Residents from Pioneer Subdivision stood over the waist-high swells of earthy compost with wary eyes. They had come to the site behind Bear Creek Corp. to learn just what the company proposes to install not far from their homes. The brown strips of compost were well-manicured. The smell was slightly sour, but nothing to complain about. Russ Fields was still suspicious, however. "I believe our view is somewhat jaded," Fields said later. "I believe what we saw was in anticipation of our tour and not a good representation." Ron Henri, senior vice president in charge of orchards for Bear Creek, disagreed. "It wasn't a setup," he said. "What they saw is what we do." Bear Creek hopes to establish a similar compost site at Hollywood Orchard, west of Medford. The site would occupy a four-acre lot about a third of a mile from Fields' subdivision and a half-mile from Oak Grove School. It would be the third site in a composting program designed to replenish soil nutrients at Bear Creek's orchards while naturally disposing of waste materials and reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers. (The other site is near Talent.) Spoiled hay and livestock manure make up the bulk of the compost, with spoiled fruit, rose clippings and other materials thrown in when available. The program's success helped earn the company the U.S. Conference of Mayors Recycling at Work Award. All three sites should produce about 15,000 cubic yards of compost this year. The site at Hollywood Orchard may produce up to 3,000 cubic yards. But the new site's proximity to the subdivision and school has Fields and his neighbors concerned. "I'm worried about property values declining," said Ray Miller, who toured the site with Fields. "And when property values decline, it's because of a decline in the quality of life at that property." Pioneer Subdivision residents fear the composting site will bring odor, flies, yellow jackets, increased traffic and water contamination to their neighborhood. Keith Emerson, manager of Bear Creek orchard development, believes such concerns are unfounded. And he demonstrated why. At the same site Fields and Miller had visited earlier, Emerson dug a small hole out of one of the brown compost mounds with his hands. The inside was moister and warmer, but looked the same as the outside - like garden mulch. He jokingly offered a company truck as a refuge from flies, turning his palms upward and looking around to demonstrate the scarcity of insects. Bear Creek's system, Emerson said, is more sophisticated than backyard compost arrangements most people imagine. "It's a very hot, short, sterile process," Emerson explained. "The managed process minimizes odors and sterilizes the compost." Henri said traffic and water contamination would not be a problem either. He said the state Department of Environmental Quality has checked both other compost sites and has found no water contamination problems. The Hollywood orchard site, he continued, would have nearly identical parameters. Emerson said one truck would bring compost components to the site four times a day when necessary. During certain times of the year, the truck would go months without making a trip. Miller and Fields heard Bear Creek's arguments at a land-use hearing Monday, but remain unconvinced. "They are not being truthful," Miller said. Fields said the explanations were too general and that Bear Creek ignored the issues of odor and insects, instead focusing on the merits of the program. "I was about to ask if there was a doctor in the house," Fields said. "I thought there was going to be a dislocated shoulder, they were patting themselves on the back so hard." Zach Loboy, a natural resource specialist at DEQ, said Jackson County must approve Bear Creek's land-use application before DEQ can evaluate the plan. It will give or withhold approval based on factors such as the presence of odor, insects and water contamination. Fields said Pioneer Subdivision residents would take up the issue with DEQ. "We're just worried there won't be anything done until something goes wrong," he said. Emerson said he is bewildered by the concern the project has created. Henri said Bear Creek has a long history of good relations with neighbors, as evinced by the compost site tour. "The visit was at our invitation," Henri said. "We felt it would dispel misinterpretation." Reach reporter J.T. Bushnell at 776-4487. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.