Schellville pallet factory eyes expansion

The owner of the Schellville pallet factory that burned June 5 seeks to expand operations.|

The owner of Sonoma Pacific Co. is seeking to expand its operations, less than two months after the June 5 blaze at the Schellville wooden pallet factory closed nearby highways, forced neighborhood evacuations and exploded a 1,000-gallon propane tank.

Tommy Thompson, owner of the 31-employee facility, will appear before the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Commission Wednesday to present his proposal, which would add mulch grinding and sales to the facility’s operations and double the pallet manufacturing from 3,000 to 6,000 pallets per day.

This meeting is the first of a series in which the public will have a chance to weigh in on the proposal. The meeting will take place at the Sonoma City Council Chambers, 177 First St. West, at 6:30 p.m., and is open to all.

Thompson filed papers seeking to expand operations last year, before the June 5 fire. The 12:30 p.m. three-alarm fire at the Fremont Drive facility caused damage estimated at around $200,000 by fire officials. The propane tank exploded in a ball of fire, landing on Highway 121.

Miraculously, there were no injuries. The same business burned in a massive fire in 2013 and suffered a smaller fire in 2007.

Thompson is now proposing to expand capacity of the existing pallet manufacturing operation from 3,000 to 6,000 pallets per day on a 7.17-acre parcel.

He plans to double capacity within the next five years, mostly through investments in automation, buying more machinery so he can produce more pallets with the same number of employees. Current on-site pallet storage for new pallets is 3,000 on the ground waiting to be shipped, and total pallet storage at future capacity is 9,000 pallets, 6,000 new and 3,000 to be recycled.

The new grinding operation, which turns old, unusable pallets into mulch for sale, already started in November. Obtaining a permit, while mandatory in the long run, was not necessary to start operations, Thompson said.

The owner showed off the grinding operation in a tour Monday. If possible, workers rescue lumber from old pallets to build new ones. However, deteriorating plywood that can’t be re-used is fed into a giant red chipping machine, called a horizontal grinder. The entire new grinding operation ran Thompson around $500,000.

Customers can come to the facility to buy mulch or have it delivered. The mulch is naturally hay-colored, though brown and black mulch are available as well. Ink is added to the mulch to turn it those colors.

The application to expand operations comes at an odd time, given that the fire and explosion happened less than two months ago. Thompson said he has added numerous safety measures at the plant.

The facility’s heat treatment chamber was destroyed in the June 5 fire and a new one is expected to arrive in September. Thompson will have an underground natural gas line installed for the heat treatment chamber, eliminating the need to use a propane tank.

“I think it will definitely help keep it safer if he goes underground,” said Mathew McWhorter, a firefighter at Cal Fire Glen Ellen Station 46. McWhorter and Cal Fire assisted Schell-Vista and Sonoma Valley firefighters in battling the blaze.

“Most definitely it is a good move on his part. Gas lines underground are safer than an exposed propane tank,” McWhorter said.

However, McWhorter noted, “From my training, I know that large mulch fires can spontaneously combust they can burn from the inside out if not properly maintained.”

Thompson said, “He is absolutely right. If you leave mulch for months, it will begin to smoke because the mulch deteriorates. The idea here is to produce and sell, produce and sell. The mulch is not going to be in piles for very long.”

In other safety measures at the plant, Thompson has limited on-site raw material to less than a week’s worth of production. Also, following the October wildfires, Thompson purchased a 2,000-gallon water tanker so workers can spray down pallets stored outside and awaiting shipment to customers. He has committed six full-time workers to breaking down and recycling old pallets rather than allowing them to stack up in the storage yard for weeks on end, among other mitigation tactics

The SVCAC will meet on July 25, at 6:30 at the Council Chambers, in the first step in a lengthy approval process. Permit Sonoma has sent the proposal to state and local agencies such as Recology Sonoma to get their opinion. The next step is a public hearing before the county planning commission, in which the public will also be able to weigh in.

Email Janis at janis.mara@sonomanews.com.

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