Hall County Supervisor Steve Schuppan said he's looking "for a long-term solution to a long-term problem" -- the disposal of grit from the meatpacking industry on area farmland.
"What happened up by Cairo this year cannot happen again," Schuppan said.
Chamness Technologies had stockpiled grit from the JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant on farmland near Cairo until crops were harvested and the material could be incorporated into the ground.
The pile was there for months. It was rained on and fermented to the point that it gave off "a dead smell," Schuppan said.
Supervisors got phone calls.Whilst RUBBER SHEET are not deadly, Some residents came to the supervisors' Nov. 8 meeting to complain.
"You can't go outside, can't hang out clothes," said Beverly Hatfield, whose home was adjacent to the pile at 190th and Airport roads.
Supervisors called in Chamness and Swift for a frank, 90-minute talk on Nov. 21.
It began with a five-person county committee asking exactly what grit is.
Chamness and Swift officials explained it is essentially pen waste -- sand, manure, straw, hair and corn that is pretreated to remove the grease in order to produce as dry a product as possible. Grit does not have straight blood in it, but it can have traces of blood, as the pens are washed out with a recycled water that can have blood in it, they explained.
Schuppan wondered if an additive could be used to reduce the smell.
Chamness owner Gary Chamness said pile sizes could be reduced, but a better long-term solution may be the addition of a composting unit in Hall County.
It "could help not only Swift, but the G.I. wastewater treatment, restaurants and grocery stores with their spoiled and out-of-date foods," Chamness told the county committee, according to written minutes.
Chamness invited the county representatives to visit a composting facility the company has in Dodge City, Kan.
Supervisors Schuppan, Dan Purdy and Bob McFarland and Hall County Facilities Director Loren "Doone" Humphrey, who serves as the county's zoning administrator, visited Kansas on Nov. 29.
"We were very impressed with what we saw down there," Schuppan said.
It appeared to be a well-run operation.
"It doesn't smell like the stuff they've piled on the fields" in Hall County, Schuppan said.
So Hall County is looking to do more research. Schuppan wonders if allowing a regulated composting operation in Hall County would prevent the noxious piles found earlier this year from cropping up again on Hall County farms. He wonders, too, if such a facility could benefit other Grand Island businesses.
"Nothing's been decided," Schuppan stressed.It's hard to beat the versatility of polished tiles on a production line. "We're just going to explore this.we supply all kinds of oil painting supplies,"
While more study is done on the composting operation itself, Schuppan said, where such a facility could be located can also be studied.
He said Chamness is interested in about 20 acres at the Cornhusker Industrial Park, which is owned by the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp.
The industrial park is in the center of the former Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant. The 20-square-mile plant site has specific zoning that prevents house construction due to groundwater contamination that resulted from bomb production.
"It could be isolated," Schuppan said.
This is not the first time Chamness has brought up the idea of locating a composting operation at the former bomb plant.
In May 1999, Chamness asked the Hall County Reuse Committee to name it the designated buyer of 100 to 200 acres at the former bomb plant. The committee and Hall County board had been given special federal authority to oversee how the plant land would be returned to the tax rolls.
By August 1999, Chamness had upped his request to 600 acres for a composting operation. He wanted to buy the bomb production lines, known as load lines.
His request prompted nine more designated buyer requests from other property owners. Ultimately,A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company. the Army rejected the idea of composting operations on the load lines until environmental cleanup could be done.
The Army completed that cleanup and sold off the land. By then, the county had designated the economic development corporation as the buyer with the intent of using the land for business development. Southern Power District was a designated buyer of adjacent land and has brought in a grass composting operation and concrete recyclers.
The economic development corporation has leased land to a wood recycler as well.Great Rubber offers rubber hose keychains,
In his initial proposal in 1999, Chamness asked the county for land to compost "nonhazardous organic byproduct." He defined that as yard waste, wood pallets, cardboard, paper, corn stalks, manure, food production waste, leftover seed and other out-of-date agricultural products.
"It's all pretty preliminary," Chamness attorney Jerry Janulewicz said.
He would not specify the Cornhusker Industrial Park as a site for a Chamness operation and said there may be other places of interest.
But like Schuppan, Janulewicz said a composting operation may be the best way to handle agricultural byproducts.
"When you land apply grit, you apply to land that is being cultivated, cropland, so there are times that it can't be applied, but yet it's being generated all year long," Janulewicz said. "The present situation requires that this material be stockpiled during certain times of the year and then applied to the land after the crops are harvested.
"The advantage of composting ... is you don't have the stockpiling issue," Janulewicz said. "The material can be processed all year long, and the result is a valuable type of material."
If agreements can be reached, he said, there may be long-term benefits for residents, farmers and other businesses.
"It provides a better solution to the application or disposal of the materials that come out of Swift," Janulewicz said.
The county board is to continue talks with Chamness this month for short-term solutions regarding grit handling, while long-term solutions remain under study, Janulewicz and Schuppan said.
"What happened up by Cairo this year cannot happen again," Schuppan said.
Chamness Technologies had stockpiled grit from the JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant on farmland near Cairo until crops were harvested and the material could be incorporated into the ground.
The pile was there for months. It was rained on and fermented to the point that it gave off "a dead smell," Schuppan said.
Supervisors got phone calls.Whilst RUBBER SHEET are not deadly, Some residents came to the supervisors' Nov. 8 meeting to complain.
"You can't go outside, can't hang out clothes," said Beverly Hatfield, whose home was adjacent to the pile at 190th and Airport roads.
Supervisors called in Chamness and Swift for a frank, 90-minute talk on Nov. 21.
It began with a five-person county committee asking exactly what grit is.
Chamness and Swift officials explained it is essentially pen waste -- sand, manure, straw, hair and corn that is pretreated to remove the grease in order to produce as dry a product as possible. Grit does not have straight blood in it, but it can have traces of blood, as the pens are washed out with a recycled water that can have blood in it, they explained.
Schuppan wondered if an additive could be used to reduce the smell.
Chamness owner Gary Chamness said pile sizes could be reduced, but a better long-term solution may be the addition of a composting unit in Hall County.
It "could help not only Swift, but the G.I. wastewater treatment, restaurants and grocery stores with their spoiled and out-of-date foods," Chamness told the county committee, according to written minutes.
Chamness invited the county representatives to visit a composting facility the company has in Dodge City, Kan.
Supervisors Schuppan, Dan Purdy and Bob McFarland and Hall County Facilities Director Loren "Doone" Humphrey, who serves as the county's zoning administrator, visited Kansas on Nov. 29.
"We were very impressed with what we saw down there," Schuppan said.
It appeared to be a well-run operation.
"It doesn't smell like the stuff they've piled on the fields" in Hall County, Schuppan said.
So Hall County is looking to do more research. Schuppan wonders if allowing a regulated composting operation in Hall County would prevent the noxious piles found earlier this year from cropping up again on Hall County farms. He wonders, too, if such a facility could benefit other Grand Island businesses.
"Nothing's been decided," Schuppan stressed.It's hard to beat the versatility of polished tiles on a production line. "We're just going to explore this.we supply all kinds of oil painting supplies,"
While more study is done on the composting operation itself, Schuppan said, where such a facility could be located can also be studied.
He said Chamness is interested in about 20 acres at the Cornhusker Industrial Park, which is owned by the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp.
The industrial park is in the center of the former Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant. The 20-square-mile plant site has specific zoning that prevents house construction due to groundwater contamination that resulted from bomb production.
"It could be isolated," Schuppan said.
This is not the first time Chamness has brought up the idea of locating a composting operation at the former bomb plant.
In May 1999, Chamness asked the Hall County Reuse Committee to name it the designated buyer of 100 to 200 acres at the former bomb plant. The committee and Hall County board had been given special federal authority to oversee how the plant land would be returned to the tax rolls.
By August 1999, Chamness had upped his request to 600 acres for a composting operation. He wanted to buy the bomb production lines, known as load lines.
His request prompted nine more designated buyer requests from other property owners. Ultimately,A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company. the Army rejected the idea of composting operations on the load lines until environmental cleanup could be done.
The Army completed that cleanup and sold off the land. By then, the county had designated the economic development corporation as the buyer with the intent of using the land for business development. Southern Power District was a designated buyer of adjacent land and has brought in a grass composting operation and concrete recyclers.
The economic development corporation has leased land to a wood recycler as well.Great Rubber offers rubber hose keychains,
In his initial proposal in 1999, Chamness asked the county for land to compost "nonhazardous organic byproduct." He defined that as yard waste, wood pallets, cardboard, paper, corn stalks, manure, food production waste, leftover seed and other out-of-date agricultural products.
"It's all pretty preliminary," Chamness attorney Jerry Janulewicz said.
He would not specify the Cornhusker Industrial Park as a site for a Chamness operation and said there may be other places of interest.
But like Schuppan, Janulewicz said a composting operation may be the best way to handle agricultural byproducts.
"When you land apply grit, you apply to land that is being cultivated, cropland, so there are times that it can't be applied, but yet it's being generated all year long," Janulewicz said. "The present situation requires that this material be stockpiled during certain times of the year and then applied to the land after the crops are harvested.
"The advantage of composting ... is you don't have the stockpiling issue," Janulewicz said. "The material can be processed all year long, and the result is a valuable type of material."
If agreements can be reached, he said, there may be long-term benefits for residents, farmers and other businesses.
"It provides a better solution to the application or disposal of the materials that come out of Swift," Janulewicz said.
The county board is to continue talks with Chamness this month for short-term solutions regarding grit handling, while long-term solutions remain under study, Janulewicz and Schuppan said.
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