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Author: Bridget M. Donaldson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Compost Languages : en Pages : 29
Book Description
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) removes an estimated 55,000 deer carcasses from its roadways each year at a cost of more than $4 million per year. Many VDOT maintenance facilities have a need for viable, environmentally compliant, and cost-effective carcass management strategies. Disposal challenges include a decreasing availability of conventional disposal methods, such as landfills, and a lack of viable burial areas. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two in-vessel composting systems to determine the utility of each as a carcass management option for VDOT. The systems were a rotary drum system and a forced aeration bin system (forced air system). Pilot projects were conducted to determine the utility of each system based on two factors: (1) whether the generated compost met a set of established composting criteria, including regulatory standards; and (2) whether the system performed well from an operational standpoint. A rotary drum system was installed at a VDOT maintenance facility and monitored for 163 days. The generated compost met the established pathogen destruction criteria but was inconsistent with regard to meeting the temperature and moisture criteria. The operational performance of the system was also inconsistent. The problems encountered may be preventable in future installations, but the system requires further evaluation to determine its utility as a means of animal mortality management for VDOT. It is recommended that VDOT install a smaller rotary drum system at a selected maintenance facility and evaluate its performance when the lessons learned described in this study are applied. A forced air system was installed at another VDOT maintenance facility and monitored for 274 days. The generated compost met all established compost criteria (i.e., temperature, compost maturity, and pathogen destruction), and the system performed well from an operational standpoint. This system is a useful means of animal mortality management for VDOT. It is recommended that VDOT install several additional forced air system units at maintenance areas interested in this method ofcomposting. When the savings in disposal fees and travel costs from composting mortalities in a compost vessel rather than disposing of them at a facility are taken into account, the initial investment in a compost vessel would be offset in less than 5 years for maintenance facilities with particularly long drives to a disposal facility (25 to 40 miles). This study will be followed by an in-depth study to evaluate the economics and logistics of in-vessel composting to complete the feasibility analysis of this method of animal mortality management for VDOT. A composting guidance document will also be prepared to support the implementation of animal mortality composting at VDOT maintenance facilities.
Author: Bridget M. Donaldson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Compost Languages : en Pages : 29
Book Description
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) removes an estimated 55,000 deer carcasses from its roadways each year at a cost of more than $4 million per year. Many VDOT maintenance facilities have a need for viable, environmentally compliant, and cost-effective carcass management strategies. Disposal challenges include a decreasing availability of conventional disposal methods, such as landfills, and a lack of viable burial areas. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two in-vessel composting systems to determine the utility of each as a carcass management option for VDOT. The systems were a rotary drum system and a forced aeration bin system (forced air system). Pilot projects were conducted to determine the utility of each system based on two factors: (1) whether the generated compost met a set of established composting criteria, including regulatory standards; and (2) whether the system performed well from an operational standpoint. A rotary drum system was installed at a VDOT maintenance facility and monitored for 163 days. The generated compost met the established pathogen destruction criteria but was inconsistent with regard to meeting the temperature and moisture criteria. The operational performance of the system was also inconsistent. The problems encountered may be preventable in future installations, but the system requires further evaluation to determine its utility as a means of animal mortality management for VDOT. It is recommended that VDOT install a smaller rotary drum system at a selected maintenance facility and evaluate its performance when the lessons learned described in this study are applied. A forced air system was installed at another VDOT maintenance facility and monitored for 274 days. The generated compost met all established compost criteria (i.e., temperature, compost maturity, and pathogen destruction), and the system performed well from an operational standpoint. This system is a useful means of animal mortality management for VDOT. It is recommended that VDOT install several additional forced air system units at maintenance areas interested in this method ofcomposting. When the savings in disposal fees and travel costs from composting mortalities in a compost vessel rather than disposing of them at a facility are taken into account, the initial investment in a compost vessel would be offset in less than 5 years for maintenance facilities with particularly long drives to a disposal facility (25 to 40 miles). This study will be followed by an in-depth study to evaluate the economics and logistics of in-vessel composting to complete the feasibility analysis of this method of animal mortality management for VDOT. A composting guidance document will also be prepared to support the implementation of animal mortality composting at VDOT maintenance facilities.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Compost Languages : en Pages : 37
Book Description
A series of studies on the effectiveness, feasibility, and costs of composting as a means of managing animal mortality removed from roadways has been conducted at the Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research (VCTIR). In these studies, three composting methods were evaluated for use by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and found to be effective: static compost windrows, a forced aeration system, and a rotary drum. Successful pilot studies at VDOT maintenance facilities have led to a growing interest in adopting this method of mortality management. As plans for additional composting vessels are underway, final tests are needed in order to develop guidance on composting procedures that generate mature, or finished, compost that is suitable for road project applications. The purpose of this study was to determine the time and treatment conditions necessary for VDOT compost vessels to generate mature compost and to evaluate the suitability of this compost for potential VDOT applications. Four methods were used to assess compost maturity: temperature monitoring, the Solvita compost maturity test, plant germination and growth tests, and qualitative observations. Tests were conducted on compost generated from the rotary drum and forced aeration system and on compost subsequently transferred to curing areas. The suitability of compost for road project applications was determined by testing compost for a suite of biological, physical, and chemical properties and conducting a demonstration project at a VDOT facility. Of the compost maturity tests, temperature decline was the most conservative indicator of finished compost. As determined primarily by temperature monitoring and supported by the other maturity tests, compost generated from the forced aeration system and rotary drum should be transferred to curing areas to cure for approximately 8 to 9 weeks. Mature compost generated from these vessels met the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys compost specifications for transportation applications. It is recommended that VCTIR and VDOT incorporate the findings of this study into a guidance document for VDOT animal mortality composting.
Author: Erika Howsare Publisher: Catapult ISBN: 1646221346 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 369
Book Description
A masterful hybrid of nature writing and cultural studies that investigates our connection with deer—from mythology to biology, from forests to cities, from coexistence to control and extermination—and invites readers to contemplate the paradoxes of how humans interact with and shape the natural world Deer have been an important part of the world that humans occupy for millennia. They’re one of the only large animals that can thrive in our presence. In the 21st century, our relationship is full of contradictions: We hunt and protect them, we cull them from suburbs while making them an icon of wilderness, we see them both as victims and as pests. But there is no doubt that we have a connection to deer: in mythology and story, in ecosystems biological and digital, in cities and in forests. Delving into the historical roots of these tangled attitudes and how they play out in the present, Erika Howsare observes scientists capture and collar fawns, hunters show off their trophies, a museum interpreter teaching American history while tanning a deer hide, an animal-control officer collecting the carcasses of deer killed by sharpshooters, and a woman bottle-raising orphaned fawns in her backyard. As she reports these stories, Howsare’s eye is always on the bigger picture: Why do we look at deer in the ways we do, and what do these animals reveal about human involvement in the natural world? For readers of H is for Hawk and Fox & I, The Age of Deer offers a unique and intimate perspective on a very human relationship.
Author: Bridget M. Donaldson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Compost Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
More than 48,700 deer-vehicle collisions occurred in Virginia from 2010 through 2011, the fifth highest number in all U.S. states. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is responsible for the removal and disposal of animal carcasses along the state road system. The predominant methods currently used (landfill and burial) have several costly disadvantages, including long travel distances to landfills, increasing landfill restrictions, and lack of viable burial areas. Other states have found static compost windrows to be an easy and cost-effective carcass management technique. Deer mortality static compost windrows were monitored for 1 year under conditions typical of a VDOT area maintenance headquarters facility. Windrows were analyzed for pathogen destruction and the degree to which underlying soil filtered leachate contaminants. In response to high windrow temperatures, indicator pathogens E. coli, Salmonella were reduced by 99.99% the first sampling day (Day 7) and ascarids were deemed non-viable by Day 77. Soil filtration of leachate was effective in reducing concentrations of ammonia, chloride, and total organic carbon. Nitrate, a contaminant of particular regulatory concern, had an estimated mass contaminant loss of 1.9 lb/acre, compared to the 8 to 45 lb/acre estimated loss from fertilizer application on agronomic crops in Virginia. Results from this study indicate that with properly constructed static compost windrows, (1) high temperatures destroy indicator pathogens; (2) the natural filtration of leachate through soil reduces deer mortality contaminant concentrations; and (3) the low volume of leachate from windrows results in nominal losses of nitrate and other contaminants. The study recommends that VDOT consider sharing these results with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to discuss options for a statewide composting program. This could provide VDOT with an additional carcass management option.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Compost Languages : en Pages : 42
Book Description
Many maintenance facilities of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) face a decreasing availability of the conventional methods of animal mortality disposal (i.e., landfills and burial of individual mortalities) and have a need for a viable alternative. Others are interested in an alternative means of managing mortality that will save time and labor. Recent studies found that static windrow composting and in-vessel forced aeration composting systems are useful and effective means of managing animal mortality for VDOT, but more information is needed with regard to their cost and feasibility. The purpose of this study was to determine the economic value of implementing a composting program for VDOT. A survey was used to gather general information on animal mortality management from VDOTs area headquarters (AHQs). Weekly diaries were also collected from eight AHQs and two VDOT residencies over an 8-month period to gather more detailed information regarding their means of mortality management. With the use of these maintenance areas as case studies, cost models were developed that determined the costs or savings incurred from replacing the maintenance areas current means of disposal with one of three composting methods: static windrows, a rotary drum, or a forced aeration composting system. The study found that even the most expensive composting option currently available to VDOT, the forced air system, is cost-effective when there is sufficient mortality volume. Under the assumptions of the cost models, with regard to the AHQs evaluated, purchasing and operating the current forced air system and rotary drum can save VDOT up to 54,000 dollars and 36,500 dollars, respectively, within the lifetime of the vessels. Static windrows are always cost-effective when a free carbon source (i.e., woodchips from vegetative debris removal) is available. As a general rule with regard to the cost-effectiveness of composting, the start-up costs of the current forced aeration composting system should not exceed 22 times the operational savings from composting in the first year and the start-up costs of rotary drum composting should not exceed 14 times the operational savings from composting in the first year. To maximize the cost-effectiveness of composting, maintenance area superintendents who plan to use composting for animal mortality management should try to identify a no-cost carbon source; use finished compost for transportation project applications in place of purchasing comparable material; seek other maintenance areas with which to share composting facilities; and consider using static windrows whenever possible, including to supplement vessel composting during periods of high mortality. In addition, the Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research should pursue the design of a forced air system with a smaller capacity and lower construction costs than the one presently in use. This would increase the cost-effectiveness of composting for AHQs that do not have a readily available no-cost carbon source; that have smaller mortality volumes; and/or for which pooling of mortality with other AHQs is infeasible. VDOT can save costs by replacing current mortality management methods with a composting alternative and adopting supportive business practices.
Author: Robert Rynk Publisher: ISBN: 9780935817195 Category : Compost Languages : en Pages : 186
Book Description
Benefits and drawbacks; The composing process; Raw materials; Composting methods; Composting operations; Management; Site and environmental considerations; Using compost; Marketing agricultural compost; Farm composting economics: focus on production costs; Other options for waste management and composting; Characteristics of raw materials; Equipment tables; Troubleshooting and management guide; Work sheets and forms; Environmental agencies; Metric conversions.
Author: H. W. Dalzell Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org. ISBN: 9789251025536 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 200
Book Description
A manual on compost making. Described are: principles of composting, materials for composting, practical composting processes, uses of composts, environmental aspects, economic and social aspects, education and training of farmers and extension workers
Author: Chongrak Polprasert Publisher: IWA Publishing ISBN: 178040820X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 600
Book Description
This fourth edition of Organic Waste Recycling is fully updated with new material to create a comprehensive and accessible textbook: - New chapter on constructed wetlands for wastewater and faecal sludge stabilization. - New sections on: waste recycling vs. climate change and water; faecal sludge and its characteristics; hydrothermal carbonization technology; up-to-date environmental criteria and legislation and environmental risk assessment. - New case studies with emphasis on practices in both developed and developing countries have been included, along with more exercises at the end of chapters to help the readers understand the technical principles and their application. - Novel concepts and strategies of waste management are presented. - Up-to-date research findings and innovative technologies of waste recycling program are provided. This textbook is intended for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in environmental sciences and engineering as well as researchers, professionals and policy makers who conduct research and practices in the related fields. It is essential reading for experts in environmental science and engineering and sustainable waste reuse and recycling in both developed and developing countries.
Author: Bridget M. Donaldson
Author: Bridget M. Donaldson
Author: 
Author: Erika Howsare
Author: Bridget M. Donaldson
Author: 
Author: 
Author: Robert Rynk
Author: H. W. Dalzell
Author: Chongrak Polprasert
Author: Chongrak Polprasert