Indianhead Biomass has filed an application with St. Johns County to process yard debris on a cleared 50-acre tract on its existing property, The Citizen has learned.
The request, submitted Aug. 7 by planner Heather Neville on behalf of property owner Dr. Roy H. Hinman, is under review by the county’s Growth Management Department.
The operation has come under scrutiny — including coverage in the Wall Street Journal — after nearby residents complained that its biosolids processing produced foul odors.
Indianhead argues it performs a permitted and environmentally important service that predated nearby homes. The company says the new permit is about organization, not expansion.
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She said the added space would allow the company to handle seasonal surges in yard waste and storm debris delivered by FEMA without creating backlogs.
The site, east of I-95 off Powerline Road, was cleared in 2024.
The new parcel sits north of Indianhead’s existing composting facility, where yard waste is combined with biosolids to produce soil products. That operation has drawn hundreds of odor complaints from nearby neighborhoods, primarily Morgan’s Cove, and is now the target of a class-action lawsuit.
According to the application, the site would receive only yard and vegetative debris, not biosolids.
“It will smell like wood chips, or a pile of mulch,” Neville said. She added that biosolids will continue to be mixed with wood chips immediately upon arrival. “There is no laying around.”
Neville also noted the facility’s biosolids volume is capped by state permits. “The biosolids operation is just going to be rolling along the way it is. There’s no expansion,” she said.
County staff will review the application under the land development code, which governs yard-debris processing. The filing states the nearest residential property is more than 1,100 feet away.
A Development Review Committee is scheduled to convene Sept. 17 to discuss the pre-application, and the meeting is open to the public.
