New herbicide will contaminate compost
Composting News
By Ken McEntee
June 17, 2011
In reply to the U.S. Composting Council’s (USCC) request for a special review of the registration for the new herbicide Imprelis, the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs said it is seeking the advice of legal council about the matter. Imprelis, made by DuPont, can survive the composting process and remain active in a finished compost product.
The product label specifies that clippings from lawns treated with Imprelis should not be used as a mulch or placed in a compost pile.
Imprelis has been registered in every state except California and New York for use by licensed applicators on lawns and other turf areas for control of broadleaf weeds like dandelion, clover and plantain. The Composting Council of Canada said it doesn’t appear that Imprelis is available for sale in Canada, having yet to be registered through Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).
USCC last month issued an alert warning composters to watch out for grass clippings contaminated with the new herbicide. USCC said grass from treated lawns could end up in a compost pile, and unlike most herbicides, Imprelis will survive the composting process and still be active in the finished compost. Preliminary research has shown that Imprelis does not break down significantly faster than the leaves and grass in the compost, so the concentration stays about the same. An unsuspecting gardener using contaminated compost could end up damaging their flowers and vegetables, most of which are also broad-leafed.
The product label contains a warning about composting:
“Do not use grass clippings from treated areas for mulching or compost, or allow for collection to composting facilities. Grass clippings must either be left on the treated area, or, if allowed by local yard waste regulations, disposed of in the trash. Applicators must give verbal or written notice to property owner/property manager/residents to not use grass clippings from treated turf for mulch or compost.”
In March, DuPont issued suggested language for applicators to use regarding management of grass clippings from areas treated with Imprelis:
“Today we have treated your lawn with an innovative weed control product from DuPont. The product label requires that you do not use grass clippings from areas treated with Imprelis for mulching or compost, or allow for collection to composting facilities. Grass clippings must either be left on the treated area, or, if allowed by local yard waste regulations, disposed of in the trash.”
"One problem is that the warning is on page seven of a nine page label," said Dr. Stuart Buckner, executive director of the USCC. “Unfortunately not everyone reads or follows the label. We are requesting the U.S. EPA initiate a special review of the registration due to the likelihood of residual herbicide levels in compost damaging non-target plants."
He said he received a reply from the EPA acknowledging the request and saying that the Office of Pesticide Programs is seeking the advice of counsel. No timeframe was given.
USCC said it is unlikely that municipal or commercial compost will contain significant amounts of Imprelis, though it is possible in suburban areas where a large amount of clippings could come from commercially treated lawns. It could especially be an issue for places like schools, recreational fields or golf courses that use their grass clippings to make compost and then use the compost in landscape beds or gardens instead of placing back on turf.
"We are alerting our members to this issue, that they need to make sure their haulers are informed to not bring them grass clippings that have been treated with Imprelis," Buckner said. "We also suggest they work with their state's bureau of pesticide applicator licenses to ensure applicators know about this restriction.”
DuPont said Imprelis, an innovative product to control a wide spectrum of broadleaf weeds, is the “most scientifically advanced turf herbicide in over 40 years.” Imprelis contains a single active ingredient – Aptexor - that is absorbed by the roots and shoots of target weeds providing consistent performance.
Aptexor, the first compound in an advanced generation of carboxylic acid herbicides, has unique properties at both the molecular and whole plant levels that translate into more powerful herbicidal activity. The most noticeable symptoms after application include the bending and twisting of stems and the cupping of leaves.
Composting News Blog is affiliated with the international trade publication, Composting News, which provides INDEPENDENT coverage of composting, wood recycling and organics management. See www.compostingnews.com.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The June 2011 Composting News now available
The June issue of Composting News will mail on Monday.
Please support the great companies that make Composting News possible:
Morbark Inc., Grinder Wear Parts, Rotochopper Inc., Hamer, Roto-Mix, HCL Machine Works, Clear Span, SludgeFacts.Org, Peterson, SWANA WasteCon, Aschl Management Systems.
Find all the products, equipment and services you need for your composting, organics recycling or wood waste management business from the Composting News Product, Equipment and Services directory, now featuring immediate-link QR codes.
Headlines from the June 2011 issue of Composting News
*New DuPont herbicide will contaminate compost
*PepsiCo rolls out compostable cups
*Waste Management to develop organics facility in Central Florida
*Turning Earth licenses anaerobic technology
*World's largest wood pellet production plant opens in Georgia
*National compost prices
*Kreider Farm gets credit for certification for poultry waste processing
*Holland Mulch offers new yard waste site
*Most restaurants recycle; 13 percent compost
*Compost product news: ClearSpan, Norco
Please support the great companies that make Composting News possible:
Morbark Inc., Grinder Wear Parts, Rotochopper Inc., Hamer, Roto-Mix, HCL Machine Works, Clear Span, SludgeFacts.Org, Peterson, SWANA WasteCon, Aschl Management Systems.
Find all the products, equipment and services you need for your composting, organics recycling or wood waste management business from the Composting News Product, Equipment and Services directory, now featuring immediate-link QR codes.
Headlines from the June 2011 issue of Composting News
*New DuPont herbicide will contaminate compost
*PepsiCo rolls out compostable cups
*Waste Management to develop organics facility in Central Florida
*Turning Earth licenses anaerobic technology
*World's largest wood pellet production plant opens in Georgia
*National compost prices
*Kreider Farm gets credit for certification for poultry waste processing
*Holland Mulch offers new yard waste site
*Most restaurants recycle; 13 percent compost
*Compost product news: ClearSpan, Norco
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Composting Council to search for new executive director
From Composting News, May 2011
By Ken McEntee
Frank Franciosi, president of the U.S. Composting Council, said the USCC board will conduct a nationwide search for an executive director. Present executive director Stu Buckner’s contract expires at the end of 2011. Buckner will be considered as part of the search if he wishes to be.
Franciosi said the USCC board has retained the services of Sterling Martin Associates, a national firm, to conduct the search.
“This will be an open and transparent search that will include our existing executive director, staff and members, as well as individuals within and outside the composting industry,” Franciosi said. “We are confident that Sterling Martin Associates possesses the skills and experience to deliver the leadership that the USCC wants and deserves.”
“The search is due diligence on our part as a board, to see who is available and at what salary,” Franciosi said.
The board in 2010 did a compensation study for the executive director’s position and other positions within the organization. However, he said, salary is not an issue in Buckner’s possible replacement, noting that Buckner’s earnings as executive director are substantially incentive based.
Franciosi said in the announcement that USCC is entering a “new phase of growth.”
He didn’t indicate that the board has any philosophical differences with Buckner regarding the future direction of the organization.
The search process is expected to launch in early May.
Buckner, who previously served as USCC president, was hired as executive director of the struggling organization in December 2001. Since that time, USCC membership has grown substantially and is on a solid financial footing. Net assets as of the end of 2009 exceeded $715,000.
Matt Cotton, who served three years as president, acknowledged the progress made by the organization during Buckner’s leaders, but said conducting the national search “is the responsible thing to do.”
By Ken McEntee
Frank Franciosi, president of the U.S. Composting Council, said the USCC board will conduct a nationwide search for an executive director. Present executive director Stu Buckner’s contract expires at the end of 2011. Buckner will be considered as part of the search if he wishes to be.
Franciosi said the USCC board has retained the services of Sterling Martin Associates, a national firm, to conduct the search.
“This will be an open and transparent search that will include our existing executive director, staff and members, as well as individuals within and outside the composting industry,” Franciosi said. “We are confident that Sterling Martin Associates possesses the skills and experience to deliver the leadership that the USCC wants and deserves.”
“The search is due diligence on our part as a board, to see who is available and at what salary,” Franciosi said.
The board in 2010 did a compensation study for the executive director’s position and other positions within the organization. However, he said, salary is not an issue in Buckner’s possible replacement, noting that Buckner’s earnings as executive director are substantially incentive based.
Franciosi said in the announcement that USCC is entering a “new phase of growth.”
He didn’t indicate that the board has any philosophical differences with Buckner regarding the future direction of the organization.
The search process is expected to launch in early May.
Buckner, who previously served as USCC president, was hired as executive director of the struggling organization in December 2001. Since that time, USCC membership has grown substantially and is on a solid financial footing. Net assets as of the end of 2009 exceeded $715,000.
Matt Cotton, who served three years as president, acknowledged the progress made by the organization during Buckner’s leaders, but said conducting the national search “is the responsible thing to do.”
Thursday, January 20, 2011
January 2011 Composting News
Headlines from the January 2011 issue of Composting News
Ohio releases updates to composting rules
Dow to restrict aminopyralid usage to limit compost exposure
Enviva LP plans North Carolina wood pellet plant
Michigan extends public comment on compost rules
EPA to defer greenhouse gas permitting for biomass plants
National compost prices
SWANA e-session: best practices in food waste programs
EPA releases data on animal feeding operations
Waste Management to open organics plant in Florida
Compost product news: Morbark, Vertal, Peterson
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Headlines for the August 2010 Composting News
For more information visit www.compostingnews.com.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Composting News Web Site
For the latest news in composting, wood recycling and organics management visit Composting News on the Web.
Vermont regulations may close composter
Vermont regulations may put an end to 20 year old compost producer
By Ken McEntee
Unless a bill currently before the Vermont legislature offers a reprieve, Vermont environmental regulators appear to have succeeded in shutting down the state's largest compost facility. The board of directors of the Intervale Center voted on February 26 to take initial steps to wind down the operations of Intervale Compost Products at its current location. For the near future, Intervale Compost will continue to operate as usual, including accepting all feedstocks. The inventory of compost and soil products will continue to be sold to current and new customers.
Intervale said it will work over the next several months with the Composting Association of Vermont, the Vermont Legislature and the state administration on the issue of composting in Vermont. Should the regulatory situation change, the Intervale Center will consider halting the closure process to revisit the issue of composting at the Intervale.
A bill (H.873) that deals with the cleanup of Lake Champlain includes a provision that would exempt composting facilities from the state’s “Act 250” solid waste regulation. The provision that exempts composting facilities from Act 250, comes in the middle of controversy surrounding the state’s two largest composting operations, Vermont Compost Co., of Montpelier, and The Intervale Center, of Burlington. Both facilities have been targeted by environmental regulators over the past year. Compost supporters say composting should be encouraged, rather than thwarted by difficult regulations because they contribute to cleaning the Lake Champlain watershed.
Issues at Intervale began in September, when the facility received a Notice of Alleged Violation from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regarding
several violations alleged to have occurred at composting operation. DEC said Intervale accepted more food waste than it was allowed to, a violation that was later revoked by DEC.
Intervale also denied that it used leachate from the composting process to irrigate fields that grew food and that it discharged leachate into a river. However, DEC determined that the operation required an Act 250 permit to continue its operations. Intervale began the permitting process.
In February, however, the Intervale board decided that the regulatory process is too expensive.
“The Intervale Center can no longer afford to pay toward an uncertain and increasingly expensive permitting process for Intervale Compost," said Charles Lief, treasurer and member of the Intervale Center board of directors. "Hiring civil engineers, wetland scientists, hydrologists and other technical experts, as well as legal counsel—along with the site work required by the Agency of Natural Resources—cost the Intervale Center about $200,000 in 2007. Even more than that total would be needed to continue permitting work in 2008. Despite the fact that scientific testing to date clearly shows that Intervale Compost neither contributes to groundwater pollution nor in any way negatively impacts public health or safety, the costs are too great for the Intervale Center to support from its current revenues. Given the drain on the programs and resources of the Intervale Center as a whole, our board has taken the only responsible step for this organization going forward.”
Over the next several months, none of the steps taken to wind down Intervale Compost operations will involve the sale of equipment or removal of infrastructure. As a result, composting operations could possibly be resumed after a temporary interruption.
Intervale Center Executive Director Kit Perkins said, while the action is disappointing, it is fiscally necessary to ensure that the rest of the Intervale Center’s programs and initiatives are able to continue.
"I hope that the experience with Intervale Compost will ultimately result in an improved regulatory environment and proactive partnering on the part of state agencies to create incentives for composting and organics recycling," Perkins said. "I would like to find a way to resume composting at some scale in the Intervale.”
It is unclear whether H. 873, if it passes, would exempt Intervale from Act 250. Reports said it is unknown whether the bill would be retroactive.
Vermont Compost last month also was notified that it requires an Act 250 permit to operate. The facility, located on a farm, makes compost from poultry manure and other feedstocks. Because more than half of the feedstocks originate off-site, regulators say, the operation is commercial, not agricultural, and therefore subject to regulation. The company has produced compost for several years without a permit.
State Rep. Jon Anderson, has pushed for the compost exemption after learning of Hammer's regulatory issues, according to the Rutland Herald.
"I have been up to (Vermont Compost owner) Karl Hammer's property,” Anderson told the Herald. “I have been to the top of the compost pile. I view him as a small-business owner who is struggling. Let's stop arguing over whether Act 250 applies to composting and just say it doesn't."
An exemption for Intervale is more complicated because the organization, unlike Vermont Compost, didn’t appeal the order to get a permit and has begun the permitting process already.
Some charge that politics is involved in the new bill.
Gaye Symington, speaker of the house, is the former director of development for Intervale. David Zuckerman, a member of the House Agricultural Committee, farms on the Intervale site.
The bill amends the state’s solid waste law by exempting from the definition of solid waste “animal manure and absorbent bedding used for soil enrichment; high carbon bulking agents used in composting; or solid or dissolved materials in industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under the Water Pollution Control Act.”
The bill also says that on or before January 15, 2009, the agency of natural resources, after consultation with the agency of agriculture, food and markets, shall report to the house committee on fish, wildlife and water resources, the senate committee on natural resources and energy, and the house and senate committees on agriculture with recommended amendments or improvements to the existing rules governing the construction, alteration, or operation of a composting facility. The report shall include recommendations for increasing public awareness of the benefits of composting; recommendations for increasing awareness within the composting community and those interested in initiating a composting operation of the existing regulations governing composting; and the contact information of an individual or department at the agency of natural resources that can assist interested persons in understanding and complying with the agency’s regulations for composting.
Intervale Compost Products was founded in 1987 for the purpose of renewing the fertility of depleted agricultural lands in Burlington’s Intervale, and has been operating on its current site for 15 years. The Intervale Compost facility has been composting up to 30,500 wet tons of leaves, food waste, manure, and wood waste to produce 25,000 cubic yards of compost, garden soil, and compost products annually. Intervale's compost and blended soil products are sold in numerous retail centers in Vermont and the the Northeastern U.S. and are approved for use for use by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont.
The Intervale Center’s mission is to develop farm- and land-based enterprises that generate economic and social opportunity while protecting natural resources. Through the center’s 20 years of operation, almost 350 acres of formerly abandoned, junk-strewn agricultural land in Burlington’s Intervale have been reclaimed and put to productive agricultural and recreational use.
By Ken McEntee
Unless a bill currently before the Vermont legislature offers a reprieve, Vermont environmental regulators appear to have succeeded in shutting down the state's largest compost facility. The board of directors of the Intervale Center voted on February 26 to take initial steps to wind down the operations of Intervale Compost Products at its current location. For the near future, Intervale Compost will continue to operate as usual, including accepting all feedstocks. The inventory of compost and soil products will continue to be sold to current and new customers.
Intervale said it will work over the next several months with the Composting Association of Vermont, the Vermont Legislature and the state administration on the issue of composting in Vermont. Should the regulatory situation change, the Intervale Center will consider halting the closure process to revisit the issue of composting at the Intervale.
A bill (H.873) that deals with the cleanup of Lake Champlain includes a provision that would exempt composting facilities from the state’s “Act 250” solid waste regulation. The provision that exempts composting facilities from Act 250, comes in the middle of controversy surrounding the state’s two largest composting operations, Vermont Compost Co., of Montpelier, and The Intervale Center, of Burlington. Both facilities have been targeted by environmental regulators over the past year. Compost supporters say composting should be encouraged, rather than thwarted by difficult regulations because they contribute to cleaning the Lake Champlain watershed.
Issues at Intervale began in September, when the facility received a Notice of Alleged Violation from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regarding
several violations alleged to have occurred at composting operation. DEC said Intervale accepted more food waste than it was allowed to, a violation that was later revoked by DEC.
Intervale also denied that it used leachate from the composting process to irrigate fields that grew food and that it discharged leachate into a river. However, DEC determined that the operation required an Act 250 permit to continue its operations. Intervale began the permitting process.
In February, however, the Intervale board decided that the regulatory process is too expensive.
“The Intervale Center can no longer afford to pay toward an uncertain and increasingly expensive permitting process for Intervale Compost," said Charles Lief, treasurer and member of the Intervale Center board of directors. "Hiring civil engineers, wetland scientists, hydrologists and other technical experts, as well as legal counsel—along with the site work required by the Agency of Natural Resources—cost the Intervale Center about $200,000 in 2007. Even more than that total would be needed to continue permitting work in 2008. Despite the fact that scientific testing to date clearly shows that Intervale Compost neither contributes to groundwater pollution nor in any way negatively impacts public health or safety, the costs are too great for the Intervale Center to support from its current revenues. Given the drain on the programs and resources of the Intervale Center as a whole, our board has taken the only responsible step for this organization going forward.”
Over the next several months, none of the steps taken to wind down Intervale Compost operations will involve the sale of equipment or removal of infrastructure. As a result, composting operations could possibly be resumed after a temporary interruption.
Intervale Center Executive Director Kit Perkins said, while the action is disappointing, it is fiscally necessary to ensure that the rest of the Intervale Center’s programs and initiatives are able to continue.
"I hope that the experience with Intervale Compost will ultimately result in an improved regulatory environment and proactive partnering on the part of state agencies to create incentives for composting and organics recycling," Perkins said. "I would like to find a way to resume composting at some scale in the Intervale.”
It is unclear whether H. 873, if it passes, would exempt Intervale from Act 250. Reports said it is unknown whether the bill would be retroactive.
Vermont Compost last month also was notified that it requires an Act 250 permit to operate. The facility, located on a farm, makes compost from poultry manure and other feedstocks. Because more than half of the feedstocks originate off-site, regulators say, the operation is commercial, not agricultural, and therefore subject to regulation. The company has produced compost for several years without a permit.
State Rep. Jon Anderson, has pushed for the compost exemption after learning of Hammer's regulatory issues, according to the Rutland Herald.
"I have been up to (Vermont Compost owner) Karl Hammer's property,” Anderson told the Herald. “I have been to the top of the compost pile. I view him as a small-business owner who is struggling. Let's stop arguing over whether Act 250 applies to composting and just say it doesn't."
An exemption for Intervale is more complicated because the organization, unlike Vermont Compost, didn’t appeal the order to get a permit and has begun the permitting process already.
Some charge that politics is involved in the new bill.
Gaye Symington, speaker of the house, is the former director of development for Intervale. David Zuckerman, a member of the House Agricultural Committee, farms on the Intervale site.
The bill amends the state’s solid waste law by exempting from the definition of solid waste “animal manure and absorbent bedding used for soil enrichment; high carbon bulking agents used in composting; or solid or dissolved materials in industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under the Water Pollution Control Act.”
The bill also says that on or before January 15, 2009, the agency of natural resources, after consultation with the agency of agriculture, food and markets, shall report to the house committee on fish, wildlife and water resources, the senate committee on natural resources and energy, and the house and senate committees on agriculture with recommended amendments or improvements to the existing rules governing the construction, alteration, or operation of a composting facility. The report shall include recommendations for increasing public awareness of the benefits of composting; recommendations for increasing awareness within the composting community and those interested in initiating a composting operation of the existing regulations governing composting; and the contact information of an individual or department at the agency of natural resources that can assist interested persons in understanding and complying with the agency’s regulations for composting.
Intervale Compost Products was founded in 1987 for the purpose of renewing the fertility of depleted agricultural lands in Burlington’s Intervale, and has been operating on its current site for 15 years. The Intervale Compost facility has been composting up to 30,500 wet tons of leaves, food waste, manure, and wood waste to produce 25,000 cubic yards of compost, garden soil, and compost products annually. Intervale's compost and blended soil products are sold in numerous retail centers in Vermont and the the Northeastern U.S. and are approved for use for use by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont.
The Intervale Center’s mission is to develop farm- and land-based enterprises that generate economic and social opportunity while protecting natural resources. Through the center’s 20 years of operation, almost 350 acres of formerly abandoned, junk-strewn agricultural land in Burlington’s Intervale have been reclaimed and put to productive agricultural and recreational use.
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