Height variance will allow 75-foot chicken litter recycling plant
A poultry waste recycling facility near Georgetown has received a height variance from the Sussex County Board of Adjustment. At its May 6 meeting, the board voted 5-0 to allow a variance from the maximum height of 42 feet allowed in AR-1, agricultural-residential, zoning to 75 feet.
Demetrius Kaouris, the developer's attorney, said the 33-foot variance was needed in order to build and enclose two nutrient-recovery tanks at the CleanBay Renewables 490,000-square-foot facility near the intersection of Route 113 and Breasure Road south of Georgetown.
He said in order to minimize the visual impact of the structure, plans have been amended to use the height variance on only 40 feet of a 175-foot-long building.
The project was approved July 31, 2018, by Sussex County Council. The company will create contracts with local litter brokers to deliver poultry litter to the $60 million plant.
Through its anaerobic digestion and nutrient-recovery technologies, CleanBay will recycle 90,000 tons of chicken litter annually to create renewable energy for the region.
The site will produce natural gas to generate 5 megawatts of electricity daily that will contribute to Delaware Electric Cooperative’s existing power grid, enough to power approximately 3,500 homes. The facility will remove 20 tons to 80 tons of phosphorus daily from the chicken litter, making a small crystallized fertilizer that will be sold to farmers in the Midwest where phosphorus is in short supply. Nitrogen will also be removed and be available to area farmers to use as a soil amendment for their fields.
