DNREC plans virtual Bioenergy Devco workshop

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will hold a virtual community workshop at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 28, about a proposal by Bioenergy Devco to expand its existing composting facility near Seaford to transform organic waste into renewable energy.

The proposed project will require multiple permits from DNREC, spanning several of the department’s divisions, including air quality, waste and hazardous substances and water. Detailed information about the project and community resources are available at de.gov/biodevco.

The workshop will allow the community to learn more about company's expansion plans and information contained in the permit applications before making official public comments. These plans include the construction of an anaerobic digester, which breaks down organic wastes and converts them into renewable natural gas, or biogas, and an organic soil amendment.

Attendees will be able to ask questions. Registration and connection information is published on the DNREC events calendar at de.gov/dnrecmeetings.

A virtual public hearing will be held at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 26, to allow attendees who have pre-registered to offer comments on the applications to be entered into the public record. All public comments, whether received verbally at the public hearing or in writing before or after the hearing, have the same weight and will be considered equally by the secretary in making a decision on whether to grant the permits.

Bioenergy Devco is currently permitted by DNREC to accept organic waste from approved poultry industry sources for composting. The proposed facility expansion would give the company the capacity for receiving and processing up to 250,000 tons per year of permitted organic waste.

In addition to the proposed anaerobic digestion system, the expansion plans also include construction of a wastewater pre-treatment system and a biogas upgrading plant. There is also a proposed emergency generator.

Byproducts from the process would include pipeline-grade renewable natural gas and digestate, which would be dewatered and is proposed for use in the adjacent compost facility – or to be marketed in the future as a soil amendment that can be turned into compost, which would require a distribution and marketing permit that is not part of the current proposed project and permit applications.

Information about each of the DNREC permits the company has applied for include:

• A resource recovery facility permit from the Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances to construct an anaerobic digestion system, biogas upgrading plant and compost facility, designed to process poultry industry wastes into digestate, pipeline-grade renewable natural gas and compost. Wastes the facility will accept include poultry litter, hatchery waste, dissolved air flotation solid cake and liquid sludge, offal, waste activated sludge, and fats, oils and greases.

• Two air pollution permits from the Division of Air Quality to construct a natural gas-fired emergency generator with a standby power rating of 1,082 kilowatts and four anaerobic digesters with associated biogas upgrade and air pollution control equipment. The engine used in the proposed generator set is certified to comply with, and will be required to adhere to, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

• Two wastewater facility construction permits from the Division of Water to construct an anaerobic digestion system and a wastewater pre-treatment system as part of the proposed resource recovery facility. The anaerobic digestion system and wastewater pretreatment system will include three 208,000-gallon pretreatment tanks, and four 1.95 million-gallon fermentation tanks, a membrane bioreactor system, a 198,000-gallon anoxic tank, a 412,000-gallon aerobic reactor, a 198,000-gallon ultrafiltration feeding tank and ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis treatment systems.

The treated wastewater will be pumped and hauled to the Seaford wastewater treatment and disposal facility. Bioenergy Devco plans for a future construction phase will eliminate the need to transport the wastewater via truck by constructing a sanitary sewer pump station and force main that will connect to a future city of Seaford force main.

Registration and connection information are at de.gov/dnrecmeetings.

Detailed information about the project and permits are available at de.gov/biodevco.