SILVERTON — There’s more to the wood waste landfill at the old Johnson Lumber Co. site than meets the eye.

Bob Hedal was looking for an investment opportunity when his son drew his attention to the landfill and its precious commodity — pure, organic mulch.

From the outside, the site looks like a useless dump. But the landfill has a hidden gold mine: Piled high and deep with aged organic wood material, it is known by some for its nutrient-rich mulch — the product of years of idle composting.

The plan for the site, a project named Silverton Earth Products, is to remove all the wood waste by excavating the material and sorting out the mulch, rocks and wood products to sell to nurseries and landscapers. Phase two involves leveling the site, paving it and selling it for use as a business park.

“We’re returning the landfill to a usable piece of property,” Hedal said. “If we pull this off, everyone will gain a little.”

He sees it as a “win-win-win” opportunity to do something beneficial for himself and the others involved, nurseries and landscapers and the community.

And, he said, the soil analysis was almost too good to be true.

“The soil analysis proves there’s no chemicals and no hydrocarbons in this mulch,” Hedal said. “It’s totally pure. This stuff is a cross between composted wood and humus — it’s very rich.”

Hedal said they are currently waiting for their organic certification to be made official.

Brad Hedal estimated there are 105,000 cubic yards of material in the massive piles, buried as deep as 30 feet below ground. The screener plant, a machine that sorts the raw material into three piles, sorts at around 50 cubic yards per hour.