Read about the Grand Opening that took place on Monday, May 11, 2015
About the Oak Grove Site
The need for a Municipal composting site is essential to meet the Department of Environmental Protection’s mandate that townships collect leaf and yard waste and dispose of these items in a safe, clean location.
Each municipality represented, including Smithfield Township, Lehman Township, and Middle Smithfield Township, need a site to drop off material. According to the DEP, a suiteable site must be at least 5 acres.
Rather than have each township incur the expense of purchasing, developing, and maintaining small sites throughout an area (which could prove too small in coming years), the 3 townships came together and looked for a central location that would be inexpensive to the taxpayers and large enough to handle collection for the foreseeable future.
As the monkey in the middle, Middle Smithfield Township was chosen as the central location to look for property.
Site Hours
The site it staffed Monday-Saturday, 7 am- 2 pm. The site is closed on Holidays.
Site Improvements
It is the intention of each municipality to meet the requirements of the Department of Environmental Protection requirements and maintain a safe and clean site that we will be leasing from PennDOT.
Site Security
Those who live near the site know that the site is often used by unwanted 4-wheelers, hunters, and others who should not be in the area. The townships will be enclosing the composting site with fencing and gates to restrict its use.
We will also be installing security cameras throughout the site to keep the site safeguarded from unlawful access.
Site Utilities
As much as composting is a natural process, we will be installing water to the site to maintain dust control.
Electricity will be brought to the site for lighting and security.
Site Access
During the months of April, May, October, and November, the site will be accessible for residents to drop-off of leaf and brush.
During municipal leaf collection months, Township public works will be utilizing the site to drop off what has been collected. By example, Middle Smithfield Township’s truck drop-off has been approximately 3 to 4 loads per day over a 3 week process.
Site Operations
During the months of April, May, October, and November, the site will be staffed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Periodically, the collected materials will be processed to accelerate the composting and maintain a clean and safe site.