Tribal Composting Projects Across the US

Adds Mrs. Flamand, "We're also encouraging tribal members to growtheir own foods. Diabetes is a major health issue on thereservation, so by growing healthful foods, people will improveeating habits and their health." Flamand is also working with theextension agent at Blackfeet Community College, who is running thegreenhouse and now has two giant worm bins that use food scrapscollected at the local restaurant and Head Start program. Theybuilt an indoor/outdoor composting system that can handle worms,hay and food scraps that "have produced spectacular results in thegreenhouse."
CHEROKEE INDIANS IN NORTH CAROLINA
Individuals working for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians'composting operations possess the perfect blend of technicalexpertise, business acumen and cultural knowledge to run twosuccessful programs - one for food scraps and one for biosolids -at the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina. The tribe creditswelltrained composting operators with saving them thousands ofdollars in tipping fees annually. By selling compost to tribalmembers at bargain prices, these employees also have encouragedcommunity members to return to the tribe's agricultural rootsthrough gardening.
To reduce waste disposal costs, the Cherokee began compostingbiosolids from its wastewater treatment plant in 1995 and expandedits operations to collect food residuals in 1997. Today, the tribecomposts approximately 72 tons/month of food scraps collected fromseven local restaurants, including three within Harrah's CherokeeCasino, and 96 dry tons/month of biosolids. The food scraps compostsells for $35/ton, while the biosolids compost garners $15/ton.
Considered a landmark program, the tribe's composting operation hasbeen lauded by EPA and other organizations. The tribe, however,needs to look no further than its customers to recognize itssuccess. "Our repeat customers say our compost is the best in theworld," says Ritchie Bottchenbaugh, a composting supervisor for thetribe.
The tribe's food residuals composting program begins at therestaurants, where employees manually separate kitchen waste andremove contaminants such as plastic and glass materials. Tribalutilities employees collect the food scraps as frequently as two orthree times per day to maintain a positive relationship with therestaurants. After collection, the containers are transported tothe tribe's waste transfer station and weighed to maintain accuraterecords for documentation and reporting requirements. They then mixthe food residuals with wood chips and sawdust - derived fromchipping community members' yard trimmings in a Duratech tubgrinder - as well as shredded waste paper from tribal officebuildings. The wood chips and paper serve as a source of carbon,and the wood chips facilitate aeration.
After mixing materials with a front-end loader, the tribe thenplaces the mixture in windrows that measure 100 feet long, 4 feethigh and 6 feet wide. The piles are turned once on the first day,then three to four times per day for the remainder of the windrowprocess. The piles must remain at a constant temperature above135[degrees]F for 15 days, a standard that the Eastern Band ofCherokee generally exceeds. After approximately four weeks in thewindrows, the new compost is transferred to a covered storage areafor curing and screening.
A different composting method is used for biosolids to comply withUSEPA's Part 503 pathogen and vector attraction reductionrequirements and to reduce moisture. Biosolids are first dewateredand chemically treated at the tribe's wastewater treatment plant,then composted on a bed of wood chips using a forced aerated staticpile (ASP) method in a roofed, partially walled building. Aperforated plastic pipe runs through the pile to help ensure thatconditions do not become anaerobic.
The tribe exceeds EPA's time and temperature requirements forbiosolids composting to ensure that all pathogens are destroyed. Ittakes 13 to 15 days to reach 146[degrees]F, and the temperature ismaintained for 15 days. Then, the compost is placed in a curingpile until the moisture level drops to 30 percent or less. Afterthe compost moves through the curing pile, it is screened to aquarter inch size. To ensure the quality of its compost, the tribesends samples for nutrient and metals testing to an EPA accreditedfacility.
Another tribe that initiated biosolids composting is the PrairieBand Potawatomi in Kansas. Serving as an environmental specialistfor the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Mayetta, Kansas, SteveDuryea describes the primary equipment which includes a 14-footTitan dump trailer, a Bobcat S250 Hi-Flow with optional tracks anda Brown Bear Paddle Aerator, which has been upgraded.
The biosolids composting facility became operational in September2004 and saves the Nation $12,000 annually in disposal fees. Thefacility processes nearly 670 tons of pressed sludge, divertingmore than 1,150 cubic yards of material that would have gone intothe landfill. In the process, it has created 1,200 cubic yards ofcompost that are used in-house.
FOND DU UC TRIBE IN MINNESOTA
Located in northeastern Minnesota, the Fond du Lac Tribe hasprovided 200 vermiculture bins and 200 backyard composting bins toits community. For the Tribe's Environmental Program, backyardcomposting bins were an easy sell to the Reservation BusinessCommittee (RBC) because of the money they would save. Waste sortshad demonstrated that food scraps comprised roughly 15 percent ofthe reservation's waste stream, so the tribe could lower itsdisposal costs by diverting food residuals to compost bins. TheFond du Lac tribe tapped the knowledge of local experts and learnedthrough Cornell University's composting web site, which containscomprehensive guides, curricula and case studies.
ONEIDA NATION
Staff and students at the Oneida Nation's Turtle Elementary Schoolin Wisconsin care for thousands of worms that process food scrapsand old newspapers into compost. Science teachers help studentsfeed and care for the worms (Lumbricus rubellus), which can eathalf of their body weight in 24 hours.
When the vermicomposting program at Turtle Elementary School wasproposed, some faculty members argued that students would not beable to remember which food scraps to collect for the worms. Ittook only three days for the children to master their new roles inthe cafeteria. Kindergartners through eighth graders collect foodscraps in five-gallon red bins each day during lunch. Olderstudents weigh the scraps, load red containers onto a wagon andfeed the worms daily (in less than 15 minutes), burying extrascraps in an outdoor compost pile.
THE TUNGITS OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA
The Tlingits people of Kake on Kupreanof Island, relied on anabundant supply of raw materials to get composting off the ground.In 2001, faced with the collapse of the island's timber industry,Sam Jackson, President of Kake, decided to pursue composting as aneconomic development project. He realized that the fish wastegenerated by the village's cold storage company could be combinedwith the slash and downed timber to create nutrient-rich compost.
Kake invested more than $1 million in new equipment, purchasing a2200 Cat backhoe, a 16-foot Scarab turner and a bagging machine.Workers use the backhoe to dig a long "V down the center of eachrow of sawdust or wood chips before adding fish waste.
Bob Miller, manager of the composting program, is hoping to obtaina contract from a large retailer that needs a large supply ofcompost. If this happens, composting on Kupreanof Island couldmitigate a regional environmental problem because fish processorsthroughout the region are looking for alternatives to dumping fishwaste into local bodies of water where it upsets the ecosystem.
The Fond du Lac Tribe has provided 200 vermiculture bins and 200backyard composting bins to its community.
"Vermicomposting food residuals is a great way to get tribalmembers into a recycling mindset and to separate wastes," saysGerald Wagner of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
The Prairie Band Potawatomi in Kansas composts biosolids, usingequipment such as a Bobcat with a Brown Bear Paddle Aerator.
Copyright J.G. Press Inc. May 2008
(c) 2008 BioCycle. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning.All rights Reserved.

Source: BioCycle
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