Will Cities Unite in Harmony?

Harmony Products Inc. wants to turn Northwest Arkansas’ wastewater woes into a Midas tale. Headquartered in Chesapeake, Va., the firm plans to widen its tap on a $55 million fertilizer market by helping to solve the sewage troubles that plague cities in Washington and Benton-counties.

Tom McCandlish, chair of Harmony’s board, said the fertilizer plant would protect the strong poultry presence in Northwest Arkansas by dissolving part of the associated environmental concerns.

Fayetteville and Bentonville administrators have shown serious interest in the proposed $60,000-SF plant that would burn chicken litter to create commercial fertilizer from sludge, a liquid mixture that remains after human sewage is wastewater-treated.

In mid-January Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody and Bentonville Mayor Terry Coberly signed letters of intent with Harmony to discuss terms of a possible contract. According to the Fayetteville document, the city and Harmony have 60 days to specify contractual terms for the proposed plant.

Rene Langston, executive director of the Springdale Water Utility, said the Harmony proposal offers a possible solution. He said Springdale administrators still are investigating their alternatives, and they will discuss the fertilizer plant next on Feb. 20.

McCandlish said Harmony has considered building plants in other Midwestern, waste-concentrated locations, but the company wants to build a Northwest Arkansas plant first.

He declined to say whether Harmony would build the facility if only one Northwest Arkansas city signed on to the long-term plan. The company opened its first waste-to-energy venture in Harrisonburg, Va., in November.

The proposed Harmony plant would be able to produce 60,000 tons of fertilizer from the wastewater-treated sludge, McCandlish said. Fayetteville would supply the plant with a monthly minimum of 1,500 tons of wet sludge.

Harmony also would dispose of 50,000 tons of chicken litter for local, yet-unnamed processors and growers, he said.

Although a site for the proposed plant has not been determined, McCandlish said Harmony would prefer to contract with litter suppliers within 20-25 miles of the fertilizer plant. He said the company is negotiating with several local entities to buy the litter for little to no cost.

To build a Northwest Arkansas operation, McCandlish said, Harmony would invest $10 million-$15 million. McCandlish wouldn’t disclose the company’s financial expectations.

According to Fayetteville’s initial terms document, the manufacturing facility would open for operation no later than 18 months after both parties signed the contract. Greg Boettcher, public works director in Fayetteville, said the Harmony proposal so far offers the least amount of capital risk for the city.

“This is a proactive approach to stay ahead of the dilemma,” Boettcher said. “How better to handle that than to let the private sector take the financial risk.”

Costs to the city associated with the plant would include retrofitting the existing Noland Wastewater Treatment Facility with some dehydrating equipment and tipping Harmony for processing the sludge. The additional machinery would reduce the sludge to an 85-percent-liquid mixture before it was delivered to the plant.

Boettcher said none of the costs is expected to exceed the wastewater treatment improvement plan, which includes $120 million that will accrue from a sales tax that voters approved for wastewater improvement in November; a $1 million grant that the city has applied to receive from the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission; and a gradual 29-percent-utility-bill increase that will take effect by 2005.

Now the city spreads the phosphorous-laden mix over 600 acres of hayfields.