East Dowling Road from Lake Otis Parkway to Elmore Road looks ordinary, but beneath the snow, the new roadway is actually green.

That wasn't the goal though, according to Mike Gault, the state Department of Transportation engineer in charge on the project.

Instead, he said he was just weary of running afoul of Environmental Protection Agency regulations for interment slope stabilization that require stabilization with in 14 days of final grading.

"How come we keep getting in trouble? What are we doing wrong?"

That question led Gault to research best management practices listed on the EPA Web site.

And when he read there that compost is a slope stabilization mechanism, he had an epiphany.

"Why are we beating ourselves up constantly trying to stay on the good side of the law when we could just put down compost after the final grading is done," Gault said. "We don't have to mulch it. We don't have to put protective blankets on it. Once you put compost on top of your fill slopes, you're done except for hydro seeding."

Beyond using compost for greener slope stabilization and erosion control, the road surface itself also is greener, Gault said.

The plans for the Elmore and Dowling road projects called for 2 percent shredded tires by weight in the top surface mix, he said. Adding the recycled rubber also produces a quieter ride and a road surface that is more rut resistant, Gault said.

He said 300 tons of tires were shredded and reused to surface the road as part of the rubberized mix.

Pete Kinneen, owner of Erosion Control of Alaska, said this job alone kept more than 100,000 pallets and 150,000 pounds of grass clippings and horse manure out of the landfill by converting it into 2,500 cubic yards of compost.

Compost is also cost competitive, Gault said.

"We got it for delivered, in place, for $2 a square yard," he said. "It worked out plus, plus, plus."

Gault said he plans to recommend that designers put certified compost into the specifications for other Department of Transportation projects, such as the extension of Dowling planned from C Street to the Old Seward Highway, he said. "We'd be lame not to."

A compost pile provides the natural microorganisms that live there an ideal mix of carbon, nitrogen, moisture and air elements that speed up the natural decomposition process. The new material created is usually mixed with other soil to improve the soil's structural quality and to add nutrients for plant growth.

"We are doing what nature would do if given the time," Kinneen said.

As an amendment to the project's storm water pollution prevention plan, Dowling Road contractor Quality Asphalt Paving also hired Erosion Control of Alaska to manufacture one-foot diameter Filtrexx Soxx, fill them with compost and place them in the bottom of the bioswale along East Dowling.

Kinneen spent three years becoming certified to manufacture and sell Filtrexx, an erosion control technology designed to use compost, he said.

The compost-filled Soxx help slow down and filter the water running off Dowling Road into the bioswale and then into Campbell Creek.

"That's a big deal if you like fish," Kinneen said.

He said the company offers a menu of erosion control, storm water filtration and stream and shoreline stabilization items that can be tailored to meet the contract's terms.

Another benefit to compost; on steep slopes where soil sloughs, it sticks like a tongue to a frosted flagpole, Kinneen said.

For contractors looking for LEED points, compost may also be useful, he said. It's possible to get LEED points for dropping off materials - like Sheetrock - and get green credits for using recycled materials - like compost.

Ideally, Kinneen said he imagines a scenario where he is hired to bring in his big tub grinder and mulch the ground cover on site and convert it into compost for reuse on the same site.

John Dean was first to figure out that with a big enough pile of materials, the bio-organisms that produce compost could work year-round, even in Alaska. He founded the non-profit Environmental Recycling Inc. in 1993 and ran it until 2002, when he became ill, and Kinneen took over.

Erosion Control of Alaska - the state's only supplier of compost certified by the U.S. Composting Council - can produce 14,000 tons of material annually; a mid-sized operation compared to others nationally, Kinneen said.

The operation is in the process of moving to sites near Soldotna and Palmer where it will continue to provide certified commercial compost statewide, he said.

"Our goal is to replace silt fence and straw waddles and most of the conventional best management practice," Kinneen said.