ASSUMPTION PARISH — A proposed renewable energy project is sparking debate in Assumption Parish. Vanguard Renewables is looking at an area on Highway 70, on the north end of Assumption, as its site for a new facility.
“My understanding is it’s an anaerobic digester,” Leroy Blanchard, Assumption Parish Police Jury President, explained. “They take food waste product and convert it into methane gas and fertilizer.”
“They basically take the organic waste from food waste, rather than it going to a landfill, they put it through their process, put it in their digesters, then the methane gas that’s formed from the decomposing waste is captured and they sell it off as a product,” President Blanchard said. “The digestate, which is the liquid that’s remaining, is used for fertilizer in fields.”
Residents’ concerns
While the technology may seem promising, some residents who live nearby have concerns about the proposed facility. Among their biggest concerns is the potential release of gasses.
“The potential of the gasses that could escape, even if it’s a small percentage of a chance,” Robin Blanchard, who lives near the proposed site, said. “Especially methane gas. Because we are so rural, the closest fire department to us is a volunteer fire department, and it is five miles away from where this facility will be.”
Robin said she doesn’t think the volunteer fire department would be able to handle a large emergency.
“I have a child care center. And I can see the fire station from where I’m at. We recently had a false alarm, and it took them over 10 minutes to get to my child care center,” she said. “If there was some type of an explosion or some kind of a gas leak or something that the fire station would have to handle, it would be catastrophic.”
Robin’s list of concerns goes on: “Another effect is a very bad odor that can be released from this digester. They’re assuring us that won’t happen, but it’s got a smell of rotten eggs. So we’re concerned about that. We’re concerned about our property values. We’re going to have an increase in 18 wheeler traffic right in front of our homes. What kind of promises are they going to give us, or guarantees that they’re going to keep the roads up? So there, you know, there’s a number of things that we want answers to.”
Informing the public
President Leroy Blanchard said Vanguard Renewables approached the parish about five or six months ago to talk about the project. Some members of the parish police jury even traveled to Massachusetts to see an anaerobic digester first hand.
Then, a public relations firm reached out to the police jury on behalf of Vanguard Renewables to discuss the project and how to approach parish residents about the plans.
“I had some initial questions about the project, those questions were answered,” President Blanchard said. “Then I suggested that they have several town hall meetings to notify the public of what was going on. They chose to have some smaller, in-home meetings with smaller groups for their public awareness campaign.”
Robin found out about the proposed facility on Facebook, and then started doing her own research about anaerobic digesters.
“I started reaching out to some of the police jury members, and the President as well,” she said. “What I found out was that Vanguard Renewables was having very small meetings at homes of people in the area. But they were depending on word of mouth to get the message out, because these meetings were not very well attended.”
“They handed out some flyers, and talked about all the great things about it. Some questions were brought up,” Robin said. “What I understand is that they were very confident that there was very minimal risk of anything happening.”
Robin spoke at Wednesday’s police jury meeting on behalf of other residents who chose not to publicly speak, requesting that the police jury consider residents’ concerns before making any decisions to move forward with the proposed plant.
The parish has not made any decisions about the proposed anaerobic digester, however.
“I’m not for or against it. I’ve taken the information that’s been given to me to evaluate it,” President Blanchard said. “But first and foremost, the constituents that I have in my area are my number one priority. And if they want me to be against it, I will be against it. And if they think that it’s a positive benefit for us, then I’ll be in support of it.”
The police jury’s legal counsel informed residents at the Wednesday night police jury meeting that the body has not received any formal proposal from Vanguard Renewables at this time.
Proposed facility
UWK spoke to Benjamin Cooper, director of development, of Vanguard Renewables, as well. The company builds facilities in partnership with farms around the U.S., using food waste as well as manure occasionally to create renewable natural gas (RNG). The proposed Assumption Parish location would only use food waste in its processes, he clarified, as the location is a sugar cane farm.
The waste is broken down over a 30-day period in a fully enclosed, heated and mixed tank, and emits RNG, largely made up of methane.
“We capture that gas in the fully enclosed headspace of the tank. That gas is our commodity, and so then we inject that gas into natural gas transmission lines and put that back on the gas grid,” Cooper explained.
In response to concerns over issues such as the release of gases like H2S (hydrogen sulfide) and methane into the air, Cooper said that the enclosed, sealed system prevents harmful gases from being released. Aside from methane (which is the majority of what is created), H2S, carbon dioxide, and oxygen make up the gases produced.
“Those are all captured within that fully enclosed system. And then the gas goes through a gas conditioning process where the carbon dioxide, H2s and oxygen are removed so that we have the pure methane that we’re able to inject into the gas lines,” he said. “Because it’s in a fully enclosed and closely monitored and regulated system, there’s not H2S that is being released in the same way that it would be in an open air manure pit.”
Vanguard also has “extensive monitoring and alarm systems” in place, as well as a company-wide Stop Work Authority if employees feel anything appears unsafe, he added.
Odors are controlled through quick-close doors, a negative HVAC system, and a large carbon media bio-filter system that continually circulates air in the warehouse facility, he added.
The company typically partners with farms because, through the process, a nutrient-rich fertilizer is created that farmers can then use for crop rotations.
Vanguard is partnering with Belle Sod to lease the land for the plant, off Highway 70, and to in turn, provide the business with the liquid digestate byproduct for fertilizer.
Cooper said the company is still early in the process, working on approvals, permits and entitlements. He estimates the facility creating between 15 to 20 full-time, local jobs.
If the proposed facility is approved, Cooper said groundbreaking could take place in summer 2026. If everything continues to move forward, the facility would begin operations fall 2027.
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