Compost frosting over toxic cake near a river!

GOOD MORNING FLINT!
11/7/09
By Terry Bankert ,Flint Divorce Attorney.

What questions should we be asking of our Flint City Leders since they have proposed and begun a 4 ft deep compost pile of leaves over a known industrial contaminated site next to a world renowned Kettering University, next to the Flint River ?

Thank You for the iniative?

Well ...okay...., but we have a right to ask questions.

Will the compost be toxic?

Will it smell?

Will it be properly maintained?

Have the Army Corps of Engineers and Michigan DEQ Department of Environmental Quality and all the appropriate Federal Agencies consented to this plan?

Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing ?

Has there been an Environmental Impact Statement?

Just what was in the Envirnmental study that was just made available and made the presenter cringe at the Kettering meeting last week?

Why do I raise these questions? The Flint Community does not trust what you the Flint City Leaders say without transparency, thoroughness of research, professionalism of presentation and accountability. We have a right to know what the City Administration is doing. We have a right to have our elected council make sure that this is a good decision. We have a right to be involved in this decision. through the public hearing process.

But most perplexing is our feeling that the right hand does not tell the left hand what is going on for reason of turf, grandstanding or political and economic gain.

Many Leaders have talked of the need for transparency.

Well here is the test case, show us your stuff and let us in on what is really going on , good and bad, and force all the appropriate checks and balances.

The ball is in your court Flint City Leaders (elected, private institutions, public institutions, educational institutions, and organized business interests.).


CHEVY IN THE HOLE

The contaminated site — a backdrop for the Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37 — holds a prominent place on the riverfront between downtown Flint and Kettering University[3]
　
LEAVES BECOME COMPOST, WHICH BECOMES SOIL

11/07/09/Thumnail photos of the composting

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30366181@N05/sets/72157622758910678/

Slideshow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30366181@N05/sets/72157622758910678/show/
　
FOLLOWING IS SOME OF WHAT WE KNOW

It's been vacant for several years, but now an old General Motors site will get some new life.
That life will come in the form of several feet of soil covering over concrete slabs, turning a brown field into a green field. The site is commonly known as "Chevy in the hole."[2]

COMPOST IS GENERALLY A GOOD THING

Leaf by rotting leaf, that pesky autumn trash piling up in your front yard could help transform one of the city’s ugliest brownfields into a green space.[3]

WHAT IS COMPOST

Compost (pronounced /'kɒmpɒst/ or US /'kɒmpoʊst/) is a combination of food material and other organic material that is being decomposed through aerobic decomposition into a rich black soil. The process of composting is simple and practiced by individuals in their homes, farmers on their land, and industrially by cities.

Compost soil is very rich soil and used for many purposes. A few of the places that it is used are in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, and agriculture. The compost soil itself is beneficial for the land in many ways, including as a soil conditioner, a fertilizer to add vital humus or humic acids, and as a natural pesticide for soil. In ecosystems, compost soil is useful for erosion control, land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and as landfill cover[4]

The leaves will be converted to a useful humus, leaf mold. 1000 cu. yds. of leaves produce about 165 cu. yds. of finished humus.[7]

CITY OF FLINT DUMPING LEAVES ONTO CEMENT SLABCOVERING INDUSTRIAL TOXIC WASTE NEAR RIVER, COMPOSTING TO CREATE A PARK

The city dumped its first batch of leaves into the 150-acre brownfield redevelopment site today, the first day of compost pickup for residents. The contaminated site -- once a backdrop for the Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37 -- holds a prominent place on the riverfront between downtown Flint and Kettering University.[1]

[Many have a ]…lingering concern for the quality of municipally-generated compost. Does their compost handling process guarantee uniform heat sterilization of the entire content of each batch of organic matter? Unfortunately municipal composting is fraught with the same uncertainty of turning a pile’s outer layers into the core of subsequent rebuilt piles. There is no guarantee that municipal compost is disease-free.[6]
　
Posted by mccguy66 ,November 03, 2009, 3:28PM
Correct me if I am wrong but this site is VERY contaminated right? Don't we need to clean the soil and contaminants? Why would we just cap this site? Why would we not make this site a place were new factories,plants or businesses could start up?[1]

Creating a park there will take about four years, when the site will have enough compost to start growing things, Montle said. He estimated the cap would need to be about 1 to 4 feet deep, depending on the area.[3]
　
To do that, city leaders say they'll dump 10-feet of leaves, yard waste, and compost on the site to cover the concrete.They say, it'll save money and help protect the environment.[2]

The yucky muck also will be used as fill material for demolition sites and eventually could be sold to residents for a reasonable price — saving the city money and possibly even generating some new revenue for the cash-strapped city.[3]

Odor....KETTERING UNIVERSITY NEEEDS TO KNOW

Odor is of primary concern at composting sites that are improperly managed. Odor problems result when compost piles deplete the available oxygen supply and anaerobic
conditions develop. This problem can be reduced by turning the pile on a regular schedule. Odor is usually not a problem at sites which exclusively compost leaves.[8]

Windrows of leaves will require turning every 30-45 days. During times when a composting facility collects a large volume of grass clippings, the compost windrows will
require frequent turnings, two to three times a week, to reduce odor. Another way to reduce odors is to mix high moisture containing landscape wastes, such as grass clippings, with leaves or woodchips in a ratio of two parts uncomposted leaves or woodchips to one part grass
clippings. Composting sites that intend to receive large quantities of grass clippings should consider locating on a site where the prevailing winds will not blow toward residential areas.[8]
　
COMPOST THE FOUNDATION OF A GREEN CORRIDOR

“We’re going to turn this old abandoned site into a new green corridor,” Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said during a press conference this morning, adding the leaf and yard compost will be used to form the vegetative cap and green space for the park. [1]

FLINT RIVER WATERSHED COALTION SUPPORTS COMPOSTING NEAR A RIVER ON AN INDUSTRIAL LEVEL

Rebecca Fedewa, Flint River Watershed Coalition executive director, said by adding the compost, contamination of runoff can be avoided to decrease contamination of the river.[1]

COMPOST HELPS THE CITY AND THE RIVER

“This is a really great step forward for the city and the river,” she said. “Flint can be a real leader of how these things can be done.”[1]

WE WILL BE DUMPING LEAVES CREATING COMPOST FOR FOUR YEARS

The park should take about four years, said Steve Montle, green cities coordinator for the mayor’s office. He estimated that the cap would need to be about one- to four-feet deep, depending on the area.[1]
　
DID YOU KNOW THAT TO BE DISEASE FREE COMPOST MUST BE …heated to the needed
160 degrees F. to kill fungal and other disease organisms. Outer layers of compost piles seldom reach disease-killing temperatures and successive pile turnings do not necessarily guarantee that all disease organisms have been heat-sterilized[6]
　

Posted by shanedr ,November 03, 2009, 1:50PM
Interesting! I'm all for having green space there rather then bare dirt, but wasn't there an article about the park requiring ten feet of dirt as protection from the contamination there. Now they say a compost mix of leaves, grass and dirt of one to four feet will be enough.
… Just what do EPA regulations say about the necessary cap over the contamination. [1]

DOES THE DEQ SUPPORT THIS PROJECT?

While she couldn’t speak to the specifics of Flint’s plan, Carrie Gyer with the state Department of Environmental Quality said creating park land on abandoned sites like Chevy in the Hole can be a huge boon for neighborhoods. The state has provided grant money to communities for such ventures, she said.[3]

“You don’t want to build on them or dig in them a lot of times,” she said. “But if you build a cap between the contaminants and the people, it’s a great use.”[3]
　
FLINT TRUCKS AWAY ITS LEAVES NOW COSTING $300,000 A YEAR, SAYS MONTLE

“We currently pay $300,000 a year to have our leaves and compost taken away and an additional $400,000 to have topsoil brought in to backfill demolition sites,” Montle said. [1]

COMPOST ON A SLAB

The city on Tuesday announced that leaf and yard compost will be dumped at the site as a cap for the brownfield reclamation project. A massive concrete slab currently sits where a complex of about 20 GM facilities once stood.[3]

Flint says the project also will save the city about $500,000 a year in costs related to hauling away leaf and yard waste and bringing in topsoil for the site.[3]
　
FLINT, CHEVY IN THE HOLE IS NOW OUR COMPOSTING OPERATION

“By combining Chevy in the Hole with our compost operation it is expected to save the city up to a half million dollars a year, while at the same time moving us one step closer to repurposing that site as a green space for the community.”

Walling said he thought the solution was good for the city’s bottom line.[1]

Erin Caudell, outreach coordinator with the Ruth Mott Foundation, said she’s thrilled the city is establishing a municipal compost program.[3]

Unfortunately compost produced by municipal composting programs is one material to avoid for vegetable and ornamental gardens. You may be importing someone else’s discarded plant diseases or herbicide-laced turf clippings.[6[
　
WHAT PROBLEMS WILL FOUR YEARS OF THE BIGGEST COMPOST PILE IN MICHIGAN CAUSE?

“It’s really an innovative solution to what is a costly problem,” he said. “We’re going to save half a million a year for the next five years.”[1]

DOES THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS SUPPORT THE COMPOSTING

Walling learned last week that the Army Corps has placed both the Chevy in the Hole and the Hamilton Dam under 216 authority, which means the projects will be included in its 2010/2011 budget.[1]

HAS THE ARMY CORPS EVEN BEGUN PLANNING. WHAT IF THEIR PLAN REJECTS COMPOSTING AT THIS SCALE NEAR A RIVER?

The Army Corps of Engineers will spend a year planning and evaluating the cost of repair of the dam and the rehabilitation of Chevy in the Hole. Initially the cost was estimated at $14 million. The Army Corps will pay 75 percent of the project and the city will pay 25 percent.[1]

Montle said the Army Corps will begin its work at the channel, the city will begin at Kearsley Street, and the two aim to meet in the middle.[1]

The project is estimated to take up to four years to complete.[1]
The Army Corps of Engineers will spend a year planning and determining the cost of repair.
It's estimated at $14-million.
The Army Corps will pickup 75% of the bill.
Flint will pay the remaining balance.
The project should take 4-years to complete.[2]
　
　
“While this may be a longer process than we had hoped for, I am pleased to know that the Army Corps of Engineers see value in these two sites in our community and is committed to their future development,” Walling said.[1]

Montle said the city eventually will consider selling compost to residents for a reasonable fee and charging other communities to dump their compost at Chevy in the Hole. Consulting with the city on the program is Resource Recycling Systems out of Ann Arbor, he said.[3]

(Lawrence, Kansas) - The City's Solid Waste Division has decided to cancel the distribution of compost to the community this fall due to recent laboratory findings of unacceptable levels of the herbicide ingredient, Clopyralid in the finished compost. (2003) .The herbicide clopyralid is used in lawn sprays to maintain weed free lawns. Clopyralid residues do not break down in composting[7]

Posted here 11/07/09
By Terry Bankert
http://www.flintfamilylaw.com/
　
　
Sources of Information.

Michigan Composting CouncilPo Box 10240Lansing MI 48901Phone: 517-371-7073Fax: 517-371-1509Email:mirc@voyager.netWeb:http://www.michiganrecycles.org/

Michigan Recycling CoalitionPo Box 10240Lansing MI 48901-0240Phone: 517-371-7073Fax: 517-371-1509Email:recyclemi@aol.comWeb:www.michiganrecycles.org/See
[1]
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/11/city_takes_first_step_toward_t.html
[2]
http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/news/story.aspx?id=371630
[3]
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=11437348
[4]
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/11/city_of_flint_plans_to_transfo.html
[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost
[6]
http://www.rcgardens.ca/factsheets/factsheets/municipalcompost.html
[7]
http://www.p2pays.org/ref/12/11028.pdf

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