By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — Sussex County Council on Tuesday deferred action on Bioenergy DevCo’s proposed amended conditional-use request to construct an anaerobic digester system.

The digester would augment Bioenergy’s current composting operation at the former Perdue Recycle facility, south of Seaford.

Council voted 5-0 to defer after several hours of testimony that mirrored the hearing punctuated by both support and heavy opposition before the county Planning & Zoning Commission on Feb. 11.

Following that hearing, on March 11, P&Z recommended approval of the application, subject to 12 recommended conditions contained in the motion.

If approved by council and with all required permitting, Bioenergy DevCo’s plan is to construct four anaerobic digesters, three pre-tanks and a water-treatment system on the 228,000-acre property on Enviro Way, off Seaford Road.

BDC, which has developed approximately 220 plants worldwide, will employ anaerobic digestion, using an enclosed process and creating a biogas that would be marketed in partnership with Chesapeake Utilities, according to Peter Ettinger, chief development officer for the company.

Opposition concerns include truck traffic, odor, potential contamination and the possibility of fire with the presence of methane created in the digester process.

“This belongs in an industrial zone,” said Selbyville resident Maria Payan, a consultant with the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project, one of the groups and community members harboring concerns about BDC’s request. The area for the facility is currently zoned AR-1 (Agricultural Residential).

Furthermore, Sussex County P&Z Director Jamie Whitehouse said his office had received 16 letters of support and 255 responses in opposition to the digester.

With two plants in the U.S. and several others in the works, Bioenergy DevCo’s closest anaerobic digester — a 100,000-ton-per-year facility co-located with the Maryland Food Center Authority — is in Jessup, Maryland.

The proposed digester system in western Sussex would accommodate and process about 220,000 tons of waste per year from local poultry farmers and processors, according to Mr. Ettinger.

With the deferment, County Council will address the issue at a later date.