secured with the help of Shoemaker at Tetra Tech.
“He helped get all the funding together. EDA’s Bob Hunter and the people at RD have graciously been willing to do their part to help us achieve those grants,” he said.
Beasley said that the funding process for the plant went smoothly. “We had no problems,” he said. “It was a long lengthy paper trail—as it is with all funding. But the funding is the reason we were able to keep our rates so low.”
“We had no problems,” he said. “It was a long lengthy paper trail—as it is with all funding. But the funding is the reason we were able to keep our rates so low.”
Excavation of the clearwell structure. Photo provided by Tetra Tech Inc.
The new plant will serve about 85 percent of Ohio County, a large portion of southern Daviess County and approximately 100 customers in Breckinridge County. The plant will also have a connection to sell to Grayson, north McLean and Butler counties in the event of an emergency in any of those counties. Beasley estimates the population of the service area is 23,000 to 25,000.
The project includes construction of the water treatment plant, upgrading of the raw water intake structure, conversion of an existing treated water main to transport raw water and the addition of a new section of treated water transmission main.
The community’s response to the new water treatment plant project has been very good, said Beasley.
“The best response is that we’re getting by with a 6 percent increase on our rates, which is fabulous,” he said. “The public is really pleased with the rate only going up that much versus something like 10 to 15 percent.”
Funding for the project, including debt restructuring, totals $20,698,500. Funding sources include the Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan, a grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), a grant and loan from Rural Development (RD), funds from the Green River Regional Industrial Development Authority (GRRIDA), a House Bill 608 grant and local funds from the water district. In addition, the Ohio County Fiscal Court and GRRIDA have agreed to pay a portion of the new debt service.
Harry Storm, Ohio County Water District chairman, said that the funding was
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window system works best because you've got more open area."
At present, the state requires that an animal weighing more than 300 pounds be quartered before disposal. Higgins says that can turn farmers away from practicing safe on-farm methods. For that reason, he demonstrates how to do whole carcasses in an open-air facility that doesn't require a lot of capital to install.
The UK demonstration site uses a water quality best management practice of soil cement for its flooring. It's less expensive than concrete and just as impermeable.
Once the required flooring is installed, the rest of the process is easy and inexpensive, according to Higgins. First, he lays 2 feet of wood mulch or some type of carbon source on the base of the bin or window. The entire carcass is rested on top of the mulch bed and covered with more wood mulch—at least 3 or 4 feet for a large animal.
“The slope of the pile will give you about 2 feet minimum on the sides covering up the carcass. Nothing can be exposed; completely cover the animal,” Higgins said.
This method prevents odors from escaping the pile, so scavengers aren't attracted to the hidden remains. The pile will quickly heat up to about 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and within five to six weeks, nothing but a few bones will remain.
The resulting compost can be spread on fields or used to compost future downed stock, which is the method Higgins prefers. Each succeeding use of the material results in faster composting because the base is already inoculated with a healthy population of beneficial microbes.
Some farmers might be concerned that by composting an animal that died of an illness, they will be inoculating their farm with that disease. Higgins said that won't happen. "Any disease-causing pathogens are destroyed by beneficial bacteria and by the heat that's generated in the composting process," he said.
Higgins and Gumbert believe that this is a viable solution for the disposal of dead animals. “It’s controlled, it’s managed and it takes care of a lot of water quality concerns,” Higgins said. “We see opportunities for multiple counties to partner on a regional composting facility, or farmers can develop this practice on their own as part of their agriculture water quality plans.”
“It’s controlled, it’s managed and it takes care of a lot of water quality concerns,” Higgins said. “We see opportunities for multiple counties to partner on a regional composting facility, or farmers can develop this practice on their own as part of their agriculture water quality plans.”