BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 11, 2022
Odors that emanate from a composting business on Industrial Road have some neighbors up in arms over the smell. Kevin Wallace, who owns Wallace Moving & Storage, said that the smell from across the road at Maine Organics is not constant, but it is frequent and often “horrible.” He said he stores furniture for customers on site, and worries the smell might contaminate their’ belongings. The compost piles also attract seagulls and rats, he said. The birds poop “on everything,” he said, and he has had to spend more money on pest control to try to keep the rats away. Maine Organics, which was founded in July 2018, mixes wood shavings, seafood waste and biosolids from the city’s wastewater treatment plant into piles that decompose into compost. They sell the compost, often to landscaping and construction firms, who use it when planting vegetation as part of their projects.