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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-10-21, Page 18Hensall Compost Facility is a shared project HENSALI - The White Bean Capital of Canada has also become the Compost Capital of Canada Priday afternoon Hensall reeve Cecil Pepper turned nn the switch to of • ficiaity begin operation of the SI million Hensall Compost Faellity. Everything about this facility is unique Rom the way in which it was funded to the obvious benefits to not only Hensall but the surrounding communities Over 200 people towed the facility which is at the Hensall landfill site and were given a first hand look at modem technology at Ws finest hour. ' T don'elhink to -my ltnoWloidgts`anywtttsre'trr'dteeivotid *as -anybody gathered to observe the type of technology you people are seeing here to- day oday " said Jack Riddell, former Ontario Minister of Agriculture who was the master of ceremonies on Friday. The main purpose of the compost facility is simple; divert grain screen Ings from the three large grain elevators away from the landfill, thereby extending the landfill's life by up to 20 years. Hensall's landfill was beginning to reach its capacity due to the screen- ings from Cook's. Hensall Co -Op and W.G. Thompson and Sons and rn an innovative move, it was those three industries which put up 55 per cent of the tending for the facility The remaining 45 percent, about $441,000 came from the Ministry of the Environment "On behalf of the ministry we are pleased to sec perhaps a shining ex- ample of what we call green industry. local technology worlting to envi ronmental aims ` shad George Kelebay ,f tate MOE The Hensall Compost Facility was designed by Jack Pos a retired pro fessor of agricultural engineering Wm the University of (uelph Ht along with LH Resource Management'''ltom Walton who designed the to cility's biomass processor, have created a composter that has the potential to produce up to 20 tons of fresh compost daily "There is no way the minister is going to achieve her obfective'of 50 percent diversion from landfills without some degree of cotnposting. ft is no secret that this province has a garbage problem and Ruth (trio Ontario Minister of the Environment has set a goal to have 50 percent of all waste diverted from landfills by the year 2000. "1 hope now the ministry is accepung that composing le a major ahem:, five to waste disposal in the future." said Pos "There is no way the minis- ter is going to achieve her objective of 50 percent diversion from landfills without some degree of composting Pos has designed other composting systems, the first was 18 years ago in New Dundee. He said the one. in Hensall has different innovations thee Storir?,, and photo: by Fre(, Grovas T -A staff How does the composter work? HENSALL 'l he Hamill Com- post Facihty was built tor one spa-, chic funcuon and that is. to help save the communnv's landfill. it is estimated that more that, 4.000 tans of grain screenings were being trucked to Inc Hensall land-. he every year with Mat- kind of mass volume. the landfills capacity would have beat fitted within three to five years But after tive years of !shinning, the Hensall Compost Facility has been built and it will extend the life of the landfill. transforming about •90 percent of the waste unto high: quality waste Here's how u wore The three local elevators. Cook's Hensall Co -Op and W.G. Thomp- son and Sons truck waste from the grain to the landfill. This waste is in the form of chaff. dust. straw and stalk, Once it wives at the new facie ty, the waste is mixed with a me material such as cardboard and broken down pallets. According to facility designer and manager Cans Lee of LH Resource Management there is over 1,300 tons of waste al- ready stockpiled. After it is blended together. the material is.then loaded into one of three 100 -foot concrete channels where for the next ten days it is manipulated by the biomass pro - What was said.... —inert is . a lot :of :critic bout :lei serving:and...€greedy. The .three basin ;ject t.(Cook's. Co -Op, Thompsons) a rte," thus Lee, faciluy4esigner and anager, makes Hensall:1hemnvy of a lot of local and reaching ;ommunities,". Bill . Cwmi hm tpves se,"Tuckersmith T'own- ship. "At one point I=netrerbelieved itsvouldhappenAmdblastfall when-it-began:to?takeLam,!!VeciI>r 'ser' ilipde= f !Hensall. "We:>worked :on this for> a io ..time SomethingAve learned is- we. have .to;lave <.people. fmtn.. hetbo taotxt upinnking things work," Paul<Blopp,>HuronAMP. 1 cessos Thee three channels extend through the -length of the building which is located just a few short yards hone where ii would have been bused "It takes 10 to 12 days to reach the end of the building at which, point most of the active base of the composting is complete. " said Lee Computer technology: In that period, the processoi , which oper ales like a big rototilter, uses com puter technology to agitate. me,, aerate and transport the biomass along the length of the channel. A temperature of about 60 degrees .celsius ensures the destruction of any weed seeds and pathogens. "We wilt be momtortng the con• lamination in Inc materials as well as the temperature," said Lee. Hesaid before the finished con, De post is transported away from. the t facility it.musrtretieet thellihnietry of thelrivittinmehrs req fremt ttsybo.s, HBNSALi a certain quality and they also have • to find a way to regulate Inc .pro- cess "The standards we have to meet In Ontario for this material arc some of the highest in Inc world We have soil that won't meet the standards." . Some of Inc MOE requirements are that Inc biomass temperature :must be maintained at 55 degrees celsius for three days, if this fails to occur for any reason. biomass must be disposed of or reprocessed Also, any raw materials, addi- tives or compost products which are over Inc heavy metal and organ- ic chemical limits are classified as waste and cannot leave the landfill and must be disposed of. As of yet, the village has not found a way in which to market the compost but plans are in the works to sell it to landscapers so they can mix it in to create a rich, fertile soil. "If we can achieve the quality we did on our test batch, we can cone pete with Peat (moss) and it's worth 130to$35aymd." While Lee says They hope to re- cover the cost of the SI million fa- cility in len years. that does not aeern as important as the impact this new facility will have on the environment. Inc tact one he designed and the next one will be even different Waste management costly: "We are seeing an ongoing problem with communities having to replace their current landfill sites or hurkt new ones This is literally costing billions of dollars," *aid BiII Canireha n who is the reeve et Tuckersmith Township and a member of Huron ('aunty's Waste Management Committee Huron County is in Inc process of finding a site to build a new landfill site which they hope will he able to accommodate the waste management nests of the entire county Hums MPPP• Paul Knopp feel -tiled brie of Thcii ted'topics•ot the day when he was a member of the Hay Township council. - "One of the things we were talking about was our dump and Inc theory we just put things in the ground and find another spot for it," said Klopp Hensall first began investigating alternative ways of disposing of Inc grain screenings in 1987 and Pepper noted on Friday that it has been a concentrated effort by the past council, present council, Hensall Compost Facility Committee anti the village staff, especially clerk -treasurer Luanne Phaii it's taken four years for their dream to become a reality and a very en thusiastic Pepper said it's time to perhaps get on with another project. There has been a lot of frustration on Inc part of the the local council, Inc MOE and all the politicians and red tape, but as Klopp stated, "we worked on this project for a long time. Something we learned is we have to have people from the bottom up making thing work." Alrt Hoggarth, left; Bob Bell, Morley Hall and Reg Heidt talk about the composter. instead of being buried in Inc landfill about 100,000 garbage bags worth of waste per year, will be re- tunneel to Inc earth. tailed step by step - It started nearly rive years ago out of necessity and now. after final completion the Hensall Compost Facility is some- thing this community can be proud of - Village council, under the gurd- ance di then reeve Jim Robinson and nov. Cecil Pepper, realized ores landfill was in big trouble se they had to do something ni order to keep it from reaching its capaci ty. MAO' 1990 in May . 1990, Pepper. along with ctcrk-treasures Luanne Phaii and works superintendent John Baker went on a tact -finding trip to Jenni son, Michigan - "Our landfill was filhng up too last, we. had to do sornething " said Peppc s . In the summer of 1990, Hensall Couneil were in contact with Chris Lee of LH Resource Management Gettl,Qa supple to take hone. Huron MPP Paul Knopp and Hensall reeve Cecil Pepper on the biomass processor. • Over 200 people slaw the composter in action. t in Walton who had set up a facility in Minnesota Pepper and councillor Butch Hoffman attended a seminar et Guelph and they gathered yet more information. NOVEMBER 1990 in November 1990. Inc village sought direction froth Huron MPP Paw Knopp who recommended they prepare a tonal proposal and arranged a meeting with the Meins try of of the Environment. 'At fust they were quite agreea bis but they didn't do anything ' said Pepper. Marilyn Churley , Pedimental), Assistaneto the/Autism' of Inc 1.n vtronment met with representatives from Hensall's three elevators, con sultanas and engineers but things hit a snag when she was moved to autothe►,pustuoi, JANUARY 1991 In January of 1991, Hensall Council and stall toured an in vessel system ui Guelph that s when they pretty well ruled out Inc windrowing methud of composing: which would lake up to 2U -2S acres. The village looked into buying additiunal land to do this nrethud but found out a Huron County by law prohibited local murucapa late:. Burn expanding landfill lxuvpertme Joell 199e Jeune of 1992 saw Inc beginnwg 01 cunstrucuun un Inc Hensall Compust Facility which would be designed by Jack Pus who Holt uuan met at the seminar ui Guelph Plans continued as cvcryuuc looked totward to testing the pro- ject pad setting Inc date of die opening. OCTOBEK 1992 October 16. 1992 was a big day • fur Hensall as over 200 people gathered to see how tate new win poster works. With representatives from Inc vil lage, I.H Resource Management and the Ministry of the Environ wont, Pepper and Klopp did the honours of cutting the ribbon as hundreds loplxed on with admire tion tied i»llybc a little jealousy •