DOE, county officials to discuss biosolids issues

Members of the county commissions of Wahkiakum and Lewis County will hold a workshop special meeting with officials from the state Department of Ecology next week to discuss biosolids.

The meetings will be February 10, 1:30 p.m., in the Public Meeting Room, Cowlitz County Museum, 405 Allen Street, Kelso.

State law gives the DOE authority to regulate application of biosolids in the state, but officials from Wahkiakum and Lewis counties have expressed interest in counties having some authority. Organizers say they'll discuss this and other biosolids issues.

Western Wahkiakum County residents have opposed a Long Beach company's application for a permit to apply biosolids to a Grays River ranch. Wahkiakum commissioners developed an ordinance to relating to application but tabled it after the DOE objected on the grounds that the agency, not counties, have authority.