Museum will hire veterans to help turn trash into electrical power for Camp Liberty

The Jefferson Exchange

( Oregon Coast Military Museum)

The Oregon Coast Military Museum aims to be the first fully sustainable museum by using new technology to keep garbage out of landfills and make clean energy.

The museum intends to be off the grid and pay up to 150 veterans to help it create an experience for visitors to understand the sacrifices veterans have made in service to the nation.

The new experience is called Camp Liberty.

Patrick Ritter is the Camp Liberty Project Director and joins the Exchange to shed light on the project. Ritter has been involved in large-scale environmental, conservation and infrastructure projects worldwide for more than 40 years.

Camp Liberty is designed to be a self-sufficient "edutainment" venue offering visitors an immersive experience in military history while showcasing cutting-edge environmental technologies. Camp Liberty will turn Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) into electricity and pure water without contributing to pollution, said organizers.

Veterans will fill key roles in managing the on-site facilities and operating the latest waste-to-energy technology. Camp Liberty will feature a military museum, restaurants, a waterpark, a re-enactment area, an R.V. park, cabins, gardens, family-friendly activities like pickleball courts, mini-golf, a Computer War Games Gallery and a 450-seat theater. An advanced Pyrolysis System will power the project and transform waste into usable electricity and clean water with zero pollution, according to project leaders.

Camp Liberty is intended to be entirely self-sufficient and disconnected from the local energy grid and external resources. Waste will be processed at a former paper plant near Florence with two piers, so it can arrive by barge or railroad. Ritter says the $26 million capital funding campaign will allow the project to be completed one year after construction begins with phased openings until 2028.