Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 3.5.14

12 | MARCH 5, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM

Commission Learns of New

Facts

FIGURES
Landill Bioreactor Tech

Numbers in the news

Technology cuts down on

36.8
need for treated sewage

inches
land application

Snowfall in Billings
By MOLLY PRIDDY of the Beacon
in February, breaking
the city’s old record On Feb. 26, an oicial from Michigan
visited the Flathead County Commission
of 22.4 inches set in to give a presentation about a landill bio-
1978, according to reactor that uses sewage to help degrade
waste.
the National Weather Matthew Williams, the landill direc-
Service.
tor for St. Clair County in Michigan, ex-

plained how his county has integrated a
68.7
septage bioreactor into one section of its
landill, which has led to increased waste
degradation rates and stopped any sewage
inches
land application in the county.
Williams’ hearing came after a work-
shop series held by Citizens for a Better
Snowfall in Kalispell A dump truck drives along an access road at the Flathead County Landill. The county is looking to expand
since November.
Flathead last week, which also featured Te- the dump in the future and that could threaten the surrounding land.
Yang Soong, the vice president of engineer- BEACON FILE PHOTO
ing at CTI and Associates of Detroit.
St. Clair County has about 160,000 resi- to-energy program, in which the landill for treated sewage.
70.5
dents, with roughly 30 percent of them on a gas collected is sold to Flathead Electric Were that the case, then the county
sewer system. The rest use septic systems.
Cooperative.
would probably start with approaching
inches
During their commission hearing, Wil- Williams said his county paid for the the Department of Environmental Quality
liams discussed how the Smiths Creek bioreactor system through grants and abouttheproject.

Snowfall in Whiteish Landill has integrated the bioreactor loans, including a $13 million dollar loan “They’re the body that oversees us and
into its landill services. Trucks haul the which was reduced to $8 million through this is such a reversal of the technology, the
since November.
septage to the landill, where it is unload- green project loan forgiveness, and a new dry-tomb theory, that certainly they’re go-
ed and stored underground until it is pro- $6 million loan that was cut in half through ing to be providing input on what a system
cessed on site, solids removed, and then loan forgiveness.
like this might do up here,” Prunty said.
10 inches
taken by closed pipes to one section of the The Michigan landill also charges sep- The “dry-tomb” approach means seal-
landill.
tic haulers ive cents per gallon discharged ing garbage away from all air and water.

Snow predicted to hit The luid is injected into the dry garbage at the landill.
Injecting septage into the dry garbage is a
Washington, D.C., shut- pile, which Williams said has increased Dave Prunty, Flathead County’s solid new concept, he said.
degradation rates through moisture and waste director, said after the presentation “I do think the solid waste industry is
ting down the nation’s microbial action, and has increased gas that the science behind the septage biore- exploring this, a lot of the big companies
capital in the latest production in that part of the landill.
actor is exciting and it’s interesting to learn are putting money into researching this,”
The gas is then collected and sold to a about cutting-edge technology in the solid Prunty said.
winter storm on the East gas-to-energy company, resulting in about waste sector, but a project like this would As for the Flathead potentially consid-
Coast.
$750,000 for the county per year, he said. incur signiicant costs.
ering a bioreactor such as this, Prunty said

That one section of the landill, equaling If Flathead County were to pursue such there would have to be many more steps,
about eight percent of the total waste, is a project, Prunty said, the Solid Waste including feasibility studies, before some-
producing 40 percent of the total gas pro- Board, the commission, and the health de- thing like this could be a reality.
duced there.
partment would likely need a reason, such “It’s still a huge expense,” Prunty said.
Flathead County currently runs a gas-
as wanting to eliminate land application
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