Customers to be Compensated for Bad Compost

The Board of the Chittenden Solid Waste District has voted to compensate gardeners whose plants were damaged by contaminated compost made and sold at the district’s facilities this spring.

In late June, the Chittenden Solid Waste District, which services the Burlington, Vermont region, began to get calls from customers that bought compost that something was wrong with their plants. The district halted sales and sent samples of the compost for testing. UVM Extension Plant Pathologist Ann Hazelrigg explains that two different pesticides were found in the compost.

150 gardens have been checked for contamination and so far 80 percent have confirmed damage.  More than 200 are still to be surveyed by technicians from the Chittenden Solid Waste District.  This week District Commissioners voted to approve a Compost Assistance Program.  Marketing Specialist Michele Morris.

The package is being put in place pending legal review.  Michele Morris says they are working on a procedure for customers to get refunds.

The District’s Michele Morris says they are working with the Agency of Agriculture and the Attorney General’s office in an investigation to determine how the compost was contaminated.

The deadline for filing a report is September 30th.