Bioenergy Innovation Center

Bioenergy Development Company, LLC proposed to expand it's Bioenergy Innovation Center in Seaford to turn more poultry waste into natural gas and compost.

SEAFORD, Del.- The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has given the green light for an expansion of a poultry waste composting facility in Seaford.

DNREC says its secretary, Shawn Gavin, approved the permits for the expansion of Bioenergy Devco (BDC). It will let BDC produce biogas at the company’s organic waste composting site. The secretary’s order gives them the ability to build an anaerobic digestion system, a wastewater pre-treatment system, and a biogas upgrading plant. The company currently accepts organic waste from poultry industry sources for composting.

For more information on the permits, you can visit the DNREC website.

The permitting process for BDC’s biogas production “included a significant amount of outreach to and from the community,” Secretary Garvin said in the DNREC order. “The permits being issued to BDC are reflective of the applications submitted to DNREC, the comments provided by the public on this matter during the public comment period and the Oct. 26, 2022 public hearing, as well as being consistent with our mission to protect human health and the environment.”

WBOC previously reported on the concerns held by Seaford neighbors last year, on the possible expansion.

Officials say once the permits are issued by the impacted DNREC divisions, BDC will be able to start the construction phase of the expansion. When construction is finished, the company will start operating the anaerobic digester along with the existing composting facility.

Once BDC’s expanded Seaford operations reach full capacity, it will process an expected 250,000 tons of organic wastes from the poultry industry annually into stable compost which can be used to replace chemical fertilizers, along with the biogas, renewable natural gas, to be produced and injected into Chesapeake Utilities’ pipelines for use by the utility’s Sussex County customers. Authorities say BDC’s processing of poultry waste is expected to lessen the nutrient burden on local watersheds, helping to reduce pollution and nutrient runoff within Delaware and the Chesapeake Bay.

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Jana Ruark joined WBOC as a News Producer in July 2021, shortly after graduating from the University of Delaware with a degree in Media Communication and a minor in Journalism. She produces our entirely local 6 p.m. newscast and has won three first-place awards from the Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association since joining Delmarva's News Leader.

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