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Farm waste compost facility proposed
NORTH LIMA
A composting facility that would be licensed to accept yard, agricultural and animal waste, known as a Class III composting facility, is proposed for 12505 South Ave.
The facility, which would operate under the name Pioneer Site Services LLC, received its Ohio Environmental Protection Agency registration acknowledgement Aug. 18. It would be the first facility of its kind in Mahoning County.
Lou Vega, county recycling director, told the county solid waste policy committee about the proposed facility, which would be inspected by the county health department, at the committee’s Tuesday meeting in Youngstown.
Agricultural waste includes corn husks and hay, and animal waste includes manure, Vega said.
Ohio law defines composting as solid waste disposal using controlled biological decomposition.
“If they do bring in animal waste to that facility, there has to be some kind of surface water monitoring program to make sure that that waste doesn’t end up leaching into groundwater,” Vega told the committee.
“It’s just under review now by the EPA. They have not been given a license yet, but this is just an acknowledgement that they did register for that license,” Vega said.
“We want to safeguard any water in the area,” Vega added.
“The biggest issue is the control of movement of water off the facility. ... The biggest issue is runoff into surface water,” said Jim Stratton, a solid waste policy committee member and former county recycling director.
Mahoning County has several Class IV composting facilities authorized to take only yard waste, which includes leaves, grass clippings and brush.
The state EPA’s letter to Benjamin Dickey of Lisbon, a Pioneer Site Services owner, outlined several steps he must take before the site accepts any waste, bulking agents or additives.
These preparations include creation of a materials placement area with a slope between 1 and 6 percent to direct surface water to collection points, provisions for inclement weather operation and construction of access roads and surface water management structures.
Permissible additives would be urea, bacterial or fungal inoculum, crushed eggshells and earthworms, the state EPA said.
Permissible bulking agents would be wood chips, straw, clean and untreated wood, sawdust, compostable containers and shredded newspaper, cardboard or brush.
The site is limited to 135,000 square feet, which amounts to just over three acres.
Dickey called the site ideal for the proposed facility, adding: “It is removed from any dense residential areas and has a nice natural buffer from the rural houses located in the immediate area.”
Pioneer would have to obtain a conditional-use permit from the Beaver Township trustees for the site, and it intends to do so after it obtains final Ohio EPA approval, Dickey said.
Dickey added that the composting facility would generate several new jobs, but “it’s too early to say” the exact number.
Although the license would allow it, the facility does not initially intend to accept animal waste, including manure, he said.