March 27 update below
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State environmental regulators face this challenge: How to protect North Carolina's natural resources without getting in the way of state goals to reduce landfill waste.
That is the heart of the tensions between members of the composting industry and the Division of Water Quality, which has taken steps in recent years to better regulate wastewater coming from composting sites.
Susan Massengale of the DWQ explained that the division previously permitted these facilities through its stormwater program, but officials found nutrients and other contaminants in the water running off the compost piles that could pollute nearby waterways. So the division decided that facilities that did not recycle water on site might need a wastewater permit as well.
“It’s not like they’re being picked on,” Massengale said. “There are standards that are true of all discharge facilities across the state…. I think it’s wonderful that what they are doing is keeping waste out of the landfills and they are a great green industry. But they need to complete that cycle of not polluting the water either.”
Read a 2006 draft memo that explains the division's rationale.
From the draft memo:
"DWQ will not issue a stormwater permit for any rainfall that contacts active composting areas, including raw material storage and processing areas, or rainfall that contacts final compost or mulch storage areas. Stormwater that contacts these materials is considered a wastewater and should be permitted through an alternative program. However, DWQ will issue a stormwater discharge permit for rainfall that does not contact these areas or materials. This policy affects all composting operations, as well as some facilities in the Timber Products industry."
But members of the composting industry believe the division has switched course without adequate stakeholder input or evidence that composters are causing water pollution. Some are seeking help from state lawmakers; Rep. Lucy Allen told me last week that she plans to file a bill that would require a study of composting practices and the development of best management practices that are not too onerous and expensive for businesses to adopt. The bill must be drafted by Thursday and filed in the House in early April, she said.
“I do plan to go ahead and file it because I feel like it’s going to guarantee that whoever asks for a permit that they won’t pollute the waters of the state," Allen said.
Clarity on this issue is important because the Triad area does not yet have access to a local commercial composting facility that can process food waste. Thus, any move by citizens to encourage composting at restaurants, cafeterias and other facilities are likely to hit a brick wall. What more, facilities need access to compost facilities to properly dispose of compostable products. (Read this prior story for background.)
Gary Bilbro, director of the Carolina Recycling Association, is working on the issue. He tried to start a composting facility in Winston-Salem but could not get the necessary permits.
“We exist because we care about the environment," Bilbro said at a recent meeting with members of the industry. "We want to divert materials from landfills. We’re trying to do our part to protect the environment and what we’re looking for is a fair shake here.”
And the fact is, North Carolina has not had much success reaching a 17-year-old law that the state reduce landfilled material by 40 percent. Overall, per capita waste disposal has increased since the base year of 1991-92, according to a 2007-08 annual report by the Division of Waste Management. When waste disposal did decrease, it was attributed to a weakening economy.
It seems reasonable that the current recession could further drive down consumption, and thus waste, but that might not bode well for composters who need a sound business model to convince people to have their food scraps hauled away. The DWQ is working with the N.C. Composting Council to study the water regulations issue, though, with a one-year study of current compost facility practices in the works. I suppose Allen's bill could help get the ball rolling and establish a deadline for all this.
“We have great sympathy for the industry on this point,” said Ken Pickle, a permitter with DWQ. “We figure they have not figured this into their game plan or their site plan or their engineering plan and now they are scrambling to do so.”
Update (March 27)
Case in point of what I wrote about: UNCG tried unsuccessfully to start a joint food composting program at N.C. A&T's farm, and failed partly because of difficulty meeting the stricter water regulations, said campus sustainability manager Jenny Paige.
That leaves UNCG with the option of outsourcing the work. Paige said university employees are now working to draw Brooks Contractors to the area by finding other large scale food users in Greensboro who will start composting programs. I talked to Amy Brooks of the Goldston composting facility a while back and she said the company was interested in starting a Greensboro route but needed several clients to make it practical.
“It’s a hard situation because you don’t want to say we’re building a composting base for one business, but we need to compost,” Paige said.
UNCG is doing a lot as part of its sustainability initiative. Paige added that UNCG also plans to compost yard waste on the campus and would like to purchase compostable products for cafeteria use. But...
“It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have a composting program in place," she said.
