I had read somewhere that you have to be a resident of Cobb Co. to access the compost. Is that true? Do they require proof?

I've been interested in that compost too - but I'm concerned about soil-borne pathogens. I tried one time to figure out how they 'compost' it - but no luck. Is it foolish to be worried about viruses, nematodes, etc in the compost?

Yes, your "suppose" to be a resident of Cobb County, however, they NEVER check. In fact, you don't even have to ask/check-in, you simply pull up to the pile and start loading. Only commercial landscapers have to check in because the use large equipment to load huge truck with the compost and they have to pay for it.

LOL....viruses, nematodes...don't be silly....check out http://solidwaste.cobbcountyga.gov/compost.htm

I went to pick up some free compost this past weekend and here are my thoughts.

The pile that looked most like finished compost had an overpowering smell of manure. In addition to the smell the swarm of flies confirmed that this pile was still had a way to go. There was no way I was going to pile any of this in my truck.

There were two smaller piles but these piles had very large chunks of wood. I would not consider this compost maybe a poor quality mulch at best.

YMMV

Tom

Where is this composting place?

Probably the compost is stil raw and perhaps they have added manure to it to speed up the process. But that shouldn't be a big problem if you are loading into a pick up truck.
Bring it home, dump it in full sun, spread it a little, and mayb turn it over once or twice. This will help to get rid of the smell and also destroy some fungi and other bugs etc.

Can somebody tell us what the address is?
Thanks

Google is your friend! You can find anything there!! See link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Cobb County Compost facilitly page

Thanks for the link.

As I gather, what they have is garbage not compost made from leaves, garden clippings etc. In addition to residential garbage they also add sewer sluge. Yak!

I am not an organic freak but I won't put processed garbage in my vegetable garden.

I do not use our county compost in my veggie garden either. Sometimes I find pieces of ground up plastic bags and stuff. Good stuff for areas you don't eat out of!