Port awards contract for sewer line at former EKO site, Lewiston Tribune, Feb. 17, 2015

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By ELAINE WILLIAMS of the Tribune

The EKO Compost site at the base of the Lewiston Hill is being readied for a new tenant.

Big Sky Development Inc. of Hayden, Idaho, has won a contract from the Port of Lewiston to construct a 900-foot sewer line. The infrastructure will serve about 15 acres at the Harry Wall Industrial Park in North Lewiston, most of which has been home to EKO Compost for more than 20 years.

Big Sky Development’s bid of $75,149 was the lowest of eight. The highest was $199,618 from Quality Contractors.

Even though Big Sky’s bid was significantly less than the competitors, engineer Eric Hasenoehrl said it meets all the port’s requirements. Hasenoehrl, with Keltic Engineering in Lewiston, advised the port on the project.

The company plans to get going on the project in early March and finish in about 30 days. The work is one step the port is taking to convert the EKO property into a shovel-ready site for a new industry.

EKO took grass clippings, tree limbs and sewage treatment leftovers from municipalities, including the city of Lewiston, and turned them into compost for more than two decades. But after complaints about the odor, the Port of Lewiston didn’t renew EKO’s lease and the service has since been taken over by Latah Sanitation and Clearwater Composting.

The company started taking yard waste July 1, the day after EKO stopped. It is using a different process at its site in East Lewiston, close to Clearwater Paper and the Lewiston Livestock Market.

EKO can’t accept any new materials, but it has until Dec. 31 to handle material at the site and be off of Port of Lewiston land.

Williams may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2261.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]