New Oregon wool product finds a home in stormwater basins

Wool filter inserts, coming soon to a stormwater catch basin near you. In a seemingly perfect marriage of an under utilized Oregon agricultural product and the need to deal with surface water runoff following heavy rainfall, a small, newly formed company of local sheepgrowers is offering a line of products that will capture pollutants before they head into streams and rivers.

“It’s exciting to see a product that comes from agriculture but addresses an urban problem like runoff,” says Margaret Magruder, of Clatskanie, who has helped form Oregon Shepherd, the company that is manufacturing the custom-fit wool inserts that are placed into the stormwater drain catch basin.

Before launching into commercial production, Magruder, fellow sheepgrower Joel Pynch of Halsey, and agricultural technology consultant Wes Deuel of Full Circle Ag tested their product in storm drains located at the Port of Portland, Freightliner Corporation in Portland, and Clackamas County. The successful trial run has encouraged the fledgling company to begin marketing the wool inserts.

“Through our research, we have found that the wool filters sediment and pollutants like hydrocarbons from the stormwater that runs off the streets and parking lots,” says Magruder. “We are now at the stage of commercializing it.”

The majority of catch basin filtration products currently being used are constructed of polypropylene—very durable, but non-biodegradable. The wool catch basin insert is made of natural fibers that not only capture and remove environmental pollutants, but can be composted after use—normally about eight months to a year. The wool inserts are also relatively inexpensive—expected to be much less than $100 each.

“The polypropylene inserts have to be put in the landfill, whereas our inserts do not create another source of pollution,” says Magruder.

The idea of developing the wool catch basin inserts was born from a desire to find an alternative use for low-grade wool that has not been marketable in the recent past. Oregon produces about 1.6 million pounds of wool each year, but not all of it is clothing-grade. Oregon sheepgrowers stand to benefit from the production of the filters as it could clear the way for higher-grade wool.

“One of our objectives is to clean up the wool in Western Oregon, remove the coarser, dirtier wool that often discredits the value of our best wools,” says Pynch.

The project would never have gotten off the ground if it weren’t for a Specialty Crop Grant award of $90,000 approved by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the State Board of Agriculture in 2002. That money allowed the earlier efforts to find an alternative use for wool to proceed. With help from ODA, American Wool Council, Oregon State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Services Agency, and private industry, things fell in place.

Wool is not the only Oregon agricultural product to benefit from the project. The filtration inserts require crop biomass to strengthen and help capture the pollutants entering the catch basin. Agricultural fiber—either from the waste straw of grass seed or an alternative crop like flax—can be utilized in the product to increase strength and enhance their effectiveness at capturing pollutants.

“We are currently looking at other crops for their absorbent properties in dealing with compounds like pesticides, nutrients, and heavy metals created by industry that typically make it past the traditional means of treating stormwater,” says Deuel. “This will address such important issues as salmon habitat and drinking water aquifers.”

It is not known how much wool might be needed to meet the demand of a successful product. But Deuel estimates that the City of Portland is responsible for approximately 70,000 catch basins alone. Even a smaller city like Albany has more than 3,000 such basins. He points out that the majority of cities with populations exceeding 10,000 are now required to implement a search for provisions to manage sediment, hydrocarbons, and other pollutants in surface water run-off.

Like the other members of Oregon Shepherd, Pynch is fascinated with a new use for an agricultural product that dates to pre-biblical times.

“That very fine wool strand has unique qualities that cannot be duplicated by artificial means,” says Pynch. “We are just now beginning to really understand its structure, and how it is that sheep stay so warm in the winter and so cool in the summer wearing a wool coat. Wool certainly is long lasting and is best known for its designer desires for clothing and carpeting. But we think it also has a tremendous value in helping to clean up the environment.”

Perhaps soon, if you ever gaze down past the grate of a stormwater catch basin, you just might see something wet and woolly, a product of Oregon sheep.

Contact

Margaret Magruder <magruder@clatskanie.com> or Wes Duel <contact@fullcircleag.com>
Phone: 503-372-8936

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