Larch Corrections Center
The Washington State Department of Corrections is seeking to take on a wood biomass energy system project at Larch Corrections Center, recently receiving a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service to update the prison’s energy infrastructure.
The Department of Corrections announced June 10 it had received the grant, part of a roughly $1.7 million project to install a biomass boiler and fuel handling system at Larch. The project is intended to offset use of fuel oil for heating and domestic hot water, and would be the first of its kind at Washington state corrections facilities.
Installing the boiler and system alongside other energy-efficient upgrades could reduce the 74,000 gallons of fuel oil Larch uses annually to 2,470 gallons, alongside 759 tons of locally-sourced wood fuel for the system, Corrections said. The department anticipated the upgrades would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 91 percent.
The biomass project would be part of major energy efficiency upgrades to replace failing boilers and repair Larch’s heating system, Corrections said — two out of three boilers at Larch have failed and an underground hot water system has considerable leakage, even with repair attempts.
The department noted that replacing the failing system with another fossil fuel solution would be cheaper, though by pursuing grants such as the U.S. Forest Service make it possible to move toward more sustainable energy options.
The $250,000 grant will be one of many to help fund the project, Corrections said, with the department relying on the work of its new grants administrator, Julie Dames-Ryan. Her job includes identifying areas needing additional funding or potential areas to expand programs, monitoring available grants, then working with Corrections staff in applicable areas — in the case of the biomass project, the department’s budget and capital planning departments — to create an application.
Corrections hopes that if it can take on the biomass project it can be an example for sustainability for department facilities, as well as nationwide. Outside of ecological benefits, the department said using a biomass system would ”promote mutually beneficial partnerships between Corrections, Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Gifford (Pinchot) National Forest,” through heating cost reductions and creating a demand for local forestry products that the department says can promote the health of forests, reducing wildfire risk.
The biomass project would also help compliance with an executive order from Gov. Jay Inslee which was made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by state agencies, Corrections said. Alongside DNR and Gifford Pinchot, the project also has support from the Washington Department of Commerce, Washington Department of Enterprise Services (DES) and the Energy Office at Washington State University, Corrections said. That support has allowed the project to move forward, Corrections Sustainable Operations Manager Julie Vanneste said.
“They each bring pieces to the table we need: expertise in biomass project design, additional space resources and an interest in reducing dependence on fossil fuels, carbon emissions and making better use of the resources in our community,” Vanneste said. “The collaboration this project has attracted and the vision of its supporters has been inspiring. It is these partners and their collaboration that makes this project so much stronger, better designed and beneficial to a wider scope of stakeholders.”
