A lingering smell left downtown noses this week sniffing for a source: Sewer main burst? Manure spread somewhere? A rotting dead thing?
The smell turned out to be all-natural mulch ground up from Lewiston leaves, trees and bark, according to the city arborist.
For years, whenever the Public Works crew has cut down a branch or tree and chipped up the debris, those chips have been stored at the city pit, Steve Murch said.
This spring, they rented a tub grinder and turned 500 to 600 cubic yards of chips into the same amount of mulch, saving $8,000 along the way. Murch said it cost $3.40 a yard, compared to $18 if they’d bought the mulch from someone else, like they’ve always done.
The only problem is, it doesn’t smell so hot.
Commercial mulch is usually made from pine, hemlock, cedar or spruce, types of wood that generally smell pleasant.
This mulch is made of any and all types of wood, Murch said. Plus, it’s had time to rot in the pile.
The city-made mixture was spread around Canal Street, Kennedy Park and near Victor News on Park Street early in the week. Damp weather didn’t help dissipate the odor.
Murch said he decided afterward that in the future, they might spread commercial mulch around businesses. “We didn’t realize it was going to be like that,” he says. Also, he’s going to ask someone from Public Works to “turn the pile more often, which slows down the breaking-down process, which makes it stink.”
The mulch pile should last through the next couple of years.
– Kathryn Skelton
Chicken bones
Tons of frozen, diced chicken was pulled from school cafeterias last month because of complaints about bone fragments in the meat. USDA officials feared children could bite into a bone and get hurt.
They don’t seem so concerned about criminals.
The recalled chicken meat is headed to America’s prisons.
In a letter sent this week, the Maine Department of Education told school leaders that the chicken met federal specifications, labeling and manufacturing requirements, but still contained bones.
The USDA ordered the meat to be re-donated to state and federal prisons – with the understanding from prison officials that the chicken might have bones in it.
Do prisoners have a good dental plan?
– Lindsay Tice
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