Avista using logging slash to power homes

Tons of slash from a 250-acre logging site north of Loon Lake, Wash., could have gone up in smoke.

Instead, the woody debris will be chipped and hauled to Avista Corp’s biomass facility in Kettle Falls, where it will produce enough electricity to meet 37,500 homes’ needs for about eight hours.

“There’s no real reason to burn that stuff on a slash pile when we can turn it into clean, green energy,” said Russ Vaagen, vice president of Vaagen Bros. Lumber Inc.

Becky Kramer

Full Story: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=15074