[USCC] Mariposa County Composting Plant

Tue Apr 10 12:16:59 CDT 2007

With today's technology and odor control knowledge there is absolutly no need or excuse to produce odors no matter what the system is. The problem could be with the odor control system or the composting process especially if the product smells.

I recently conducted an odor audit for a facility in Victoria, BC which had odors for 10 years. After designing and constructing the proper odor control and closing down the old sysstem, they have not had any problems or even one complaint. Residence are located very close to the facility. The facility in Davenport, IA which we designed over 12 years ago has not had an odor problem and it composts 40 dry tons per day of biosolids.

The most knowledgeable individuals who can addreess odor issues besides myself are Charlie Alix of MWH and Todd Williams of CH2M Hill.

Eliot

--
Eliot Epstein 
19 Preston Place 
North Easton, MA 02356 
Tel: 508-238-1931 
Cell: 781-603-7151 
E-mail: epsteinee at comcast.net

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "McNelly, Patrick" <PMCNELLY at OCSD.COM> 

> Participate in the Annual International Compost Awareness Week May 
> 6, 2007 to May 12, 2007 
> 
> This year's theme is "The Possibilities are Endless ... Compost!" 
> 
> For more info, go to: http://compostingcouncil.org/section.cfm?id=25 
> 
> Or Call the USCC at 631-737-4931 
> http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-compost5apr05, 
> 1,2313728.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california 
> 
> New composting plant fails the smell test 
> 
> Disposing of Yosemite park's garbage is a green innovation, but it 
> brings olfactory distress to those living downwind. 
> 
> By Eric Bailey 
> Times Staff Writer 
> 
> April 5, 2007 
> 
> MARIPOSA, CALIF. - Forty miles from the sweet pine scents of Yosemite 
> Valley, the national park's garbage is contributing to a royal stink. 
> 
> In this little town on the west Sierra slope, a gleaming new composting 
> plant is busy converting trash from Yosemite and the rest of Mariposa 
> County. 
> 
> Sam Spaulding, who lives just above it, said there are days when it 
> reeks like a dead animal. Other times it's like sewage. 
> 
> Spaulding said he doesn't mind the park depositing its biodegradables 
> practically in his backyard, but "sometimes it's so strong up here it 
> burns your eyes. After this thing got going - pee-u-wee!" 
> 
> When the $8-million composting operation opened next to Mariposa's 
> landfill last year, Mariposa County officials praised it as an 
> innovative, green-minded solution to the region's growing garbage 
> disposal needs. Environmentally sensitive composting seemed perfect for 
> a region that depends on tourist traffic heading up California Highway 
> 140 to one of America's most beloved national parks. 
> 
> Composting also fit the environmental ethos at Yosemite, which has an 
> award-winning recycling program to divert cans, bottles and tons of 
> other reusable materials from its trash. 
> 
> As boosters envisioned it, the new plant would slash the volume of 
> garbage by half and produce enough compost to eliminate any need for the 
> costly 1,000 dump trucks of dirt brought in each year to blanket the 
> landfill. 
> 
> But now, as neighbors complain about odors much worse than from the old 
> landfill, county sanitation and health officials are scrambling for 
> answers. 
> 
> "We have a vocal minority, but they're very vocal," said Dana 
> Hertfelder, the county's public works director. "They never have been in 
> favor of it, and the odor problem has given them something to grab on 
> to." 
> 
> Yosemite officials say they are eager to see a remedy. 
> 
> In the old days, the park operated dumps right in the valley. Rangers 
> used to make a show of feeding bears at the Curry Village garbage pit. 
> But after World War II, Yosemite started sending its trash to the 
> Mariposa landfill. Most years, trash from the park accounts for about 
> 40% of the dump's refuse stream. 
> 
> The park and other federal agencies provided most of the money to build 
> the new plant, a near twin of a composting operation outside Yellowstone 
> National Park. 
> 
> And they're watching. 
> 
> "The composting facility is not working as well as it should be," park 
> spokesman Scott Gediman said. 
> 
> Sanitation officials say the plant's odor problem appears to stem from 
> the idiosyncrasies of trash disposal in Mariposa County. 
> 
> Residents of the rural region used to simply burn their trash in empty 
> 55-gallon oil drums. But that pioneer-style practice fell to the state 
> air board's regulatory rules a few years back. Because the county has 
> never offered municipal garbage collection, most residents took to 
> loading household waste in pickups for routine dump runs. 
> 
> Unfortunately, that flood of rubbish - 14,000 tons a year - is not the 
> stuff of which good compost is made. 
> 
> Outside of Yosemite, most residents don't bother to recycle. Instead, 
> they send a blizzard of empty soft-drink bottles and other plastics into 
> the plant's eight concrete-walled composting vessels. 
> 
> The result is a malodorous mix. 
> 
> Hertfelder, the public works chief, is optimistic that a little public 
> education on the merits of recycling can help the county's composting 
> cause. 
> 
> Meanwhile, plant managers have fixed a balky biofilter that wasn't 
> properly sifting out the smell and installed a deodorizing spray system. 
> 
> 
> If the remedial steps don't reduce the stench, there's talk of enclosing 
> - at an additional cost of $200,000 - the portion of the plant where the 
> finished compost is stored outside. 
> 
> "I do believe we'll get the odors under control," Hertfelder said. "As 
> much as Ruth gets mad at me, it is a landfill, and trash does have an 
> odor." 
> 
> Hertfelder was referring to Ruth Sellers, a well-known Mariposa civic 
> player who lives in a tidy ranchette across California 49 from the 
> plant. 
> 
> During planning stages a few years back, Sellers was among the plant's 
> most vocal opponents; she would have preferred that the county find a 
> new dump far out of town. An inveterate Republican, Sellers also 
> objected to county leaders taking pricey junkets to tour composting 
> plants. 
> 
> That was then, and the smell is her main concern now. 
> 
> "What's coming out of there isn't compost. It's garbage," she said. 
> "They're speeding up the rotting, is all." 
> 
> By building the plant, Mariposa is catering to the wishes of Yosemite, 
> Sellers added. "We're put at a disadvantage for the benefit of the 
> park." 
> 
> Not all of her neighbors want to criticize Yosemite, which they know is 
> a prime draw for tourist dollars. 
> 
> "If Yosemite wasn't there, we wouldn't get any business," said Mike 
> Butler, an auto mechanic who has lived all of his 45 years on a hill 
> overlooking the landfill. "My problem is with that composting plant. 
> It's a white elephant." 
> 
> Last Thanksgiving, the odor reached such putrid proportions that 
> Butler's mother canceled the usual feast at her trailer on the family 
> property. Sometimes, he said, the smell seeps in under the door. 
> 
> Up the road, Spaulding, who carves tombstones, says the foul smell has 
> chased off one of his employees who became nauseated from it. 
> 
> Three times in recent months, Spaulding lamented, customers shopping for 
> headstones turned tail and left, complaining about the stink. "Probably 
> lost $3,000 in business," he said. 
> 
> eric.bailey at latimes.com 
> 
> 
> Compost maillist - compost at mailman.cloudnet.com 
> http://mailman.cloudnet.com/mailman/listinfo/compost 
> 
> This month's sponsor of the USCC Discussion List is: 
> 
> Food Industry Environmental Network (FIEN), a regulatory and policy e-mail alert 
> service for environmental, food and agricultural industry professionals. 
> Contact Jack Cooper 301/384-8287 JLC at fien.com --- www.fien.com 
> 
> _______________________________________ 
> This list is a service provided by the US Composting Council (USCC). 
> (c) Copyright 2004 United States Composting Council - All rights reserved 
> 
> Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the USCC, the Foundation, or the 
> Board of Directors. 
> 
> Non-members of USCC are encouraged to join the Council through its website at: 
> http://www.compostingcouncil.org/membership.cfm 
> 
> Members posting CC copies to the list and other addresses may have their posting 
> privileges suspended. For discussion list policies and information regarding 
> subscribing, unsubscribing, digest or other options, go to: 
> http://mailman.cloudnet.com/mailman/listinfo/compost 
> 
> For additional help in unsubcribing or to report bugs and problems, send a 
> message to the List Manager at compostlistmanager at compostingcouncil.org 