MOORHEAD, MINN. (KFGO) – Included in the 2021 Moorhead city budget is $172,000 to pay for a large burner designed to burn 8-10 tons of wood an hour. It will be used to get rid of waste at the city yard waste site on the northeast side of Moorhead, just off Highway 75.
There was a huge fire at the site July 17 that burned and smoldered for days, producing heavy smoke and a stench that drifted over the FM-metro, prompting more than a few complaints.
Public Works Director Steve Moore says the city has been working two to three years to find an efficient and economical solution to dispose of the wood waste.
He says the burning wood, wood chips, and grass-covered over 3.5 acres, in piles 25 feet high that had been stored for several years, and was difficult to dispose of. While not yet confirmed, Moore says it’s believed the wood chip pile “spontaneously” started on fire and ignited the main woodpile.
The city is finalizing a permit that must be approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
