Nevada Division of Environmental Protection - Bureau of Waste Management

Site Summary: The Ponderosa Dairy Compost Facility is located on approximately 33 acres of land. The land slopes from north to south at a grade of approximately 0.3 percent. The compost area is bermed on the south end to control runoff; the berm is 4 feet tall, and 10 feet wide at the bottom and 5 feet wide at the top.

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The nearest roads are Mecca Road 12 mile north, Windjammer Road 12 mile west, Gilligan Road 12 mile south and G Ranch Road 12 mile east to the facility. The closest neighbor is 12 mile west from the facility towards the Windjammer road.

Composting Process — The raw materials for the compost facility are applied to the compost rows in such a way that, at any given time the compost rows do not exceed 15 feet wide and 6 feet high. A tractor pulls a compost windrow turner behind, which aerates and injects moisture into the row. Compost rows are generally turned every two to seven days and as seldom as once a week depending on the stage of the compost. All compost piles are thermally cured at 1350 F and 1550 F to kill pathogens and weed seeds. The composting process, from start to finish, takes about 3 to 4 months. The operation will ship out about 18,000 tons/year of high quality finished compost and no intermediate biodegrading materials are used in the composting process. It is estimated that there is a 55 % reduction in volume between starting material and finished product. The operation doesl not produce byproducts.

A Description of materials that may be composted at the Ponderosa Dairy will include:

Manure solids from the separators: Greenwater from the dairy barns flows through static inclined separator and/or sand separators prior to entering the lagoon system. The separated solids are dried on a concrete pad and the dried solids are used as the primary raw material for composting. Lab results of separator manure have been submitted to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) along with the original permit application materials. Approximately 12000 tons (20,000 cu-yards at a bulk density of 1200 lbs/cu-yard) of this feedstock material is composted on a yearly basis.)

Manure solids from the corrals, holding/evaporative ponds and lagoons: Manure solids are scraped from dairy corrals, dried out holding/evaporative ponds and lagoons. These solids are used as raw material for composting. Once again lab results of corral manure were submitted to NDEP along with the original permit application materials. Approximately 15,000 tons (50,000 lbs/cu-yard at 600 lbs/cu-yard) of this feedstock material is composted on a yearly basis.

Horse manure, Sawdust bedding, wood shavings and hay: A mix of horse manure, sawdust, wood shavings and hay is used as a raw material to supplement dairy manure solids. Lab results of this raw material have been submitted to NDEP along with the original permit application materials. Ponderosa Dairy purchases this raw material from third party facilities. Approximately 13,000 tons (43,333 cu-yards at 600 Ibs/cu-yard) of this feed stock material is composted on a yearly basis. The total volume of feed stock material that is composted on a yearly basis is 115,000 cu-yards (40,000 tons).

Rejection criteria for raw materials: Based on the visual observation, if a raw material contains too many inerts like plastic, metal, glass and sharps (more than 30% Percent by weight) the raw material is rejected. Raw materials are screened prior to being added to the compost piles. The screening process filters out sharp particles. If the final product shows a high concentration of a pollutant of concern, all the raw materials are analyzed for tracking the source of pollutant concern and the contaminated raw material is either cleaned up or rejected. Of note, there are no established pollutant standards for raw materials.

Materials that will not be accepted for composting: Biosolids arel not accepted for composting under any circumstances, which includes animal carcasses.