OLIVIA -- The Renville County Landfill might be willing to accept lime waste from an ethanol plant planned to be constructed near Lamberton in Redwood County.
The Renville County Board of Commissioners indicated at its meeting Tuesday that the county is willing to consider the possibility of handling the wastes from the proposed Highwater Ethanol plant, said Public Works Director Marlin Larson. The board instructed him to look into the possibility and to ask Highwater Ethanol what they might be willing to pay to deposit the material.
The decision comes in response to an earlier inquiry from Earth Tech Engineering of Minneapolis, a consultant for the ethanol project. The company is exploring its options for disposing of wastes from the water treatment process.
The engineering firm indicated that the plant is projected to produce 60 cubic yards of "salt cake'' and 30 cubic yards of lime solids each week. Both substances consist primarily of lime used in water treatment.
The lime would have a moisture content that could be as high as 50 percent, according to correspondence from Earth Tech.
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The volume of material is roughly equivalent to one-third of the volume of municipal solid waste now arriving at the landfill, according to Larson. The county estimates the landfill has about 10 years' worth of capacity remaining. It began taking steps toward expanding the landfill for future use prior to hearing this request.
Larson said he will seek to determine if the lime material -- which is inert -- could be used as the "daily fill" at the landfill. Each day, the landfill is required to place fill material over the wastes deposited in the municipal solid waste cell. This prevents the wastes from being dispersed by the wind.
Using some of the lime as the daily fill material would benefit the county, since it could replace other material now used for the fill. The projected volumes of lime are greater than needed for the daily fill. Some of the lime could be spread over the wastes as fill, while the remainder would need to be deposited like other waste.
Highwater Ethanol LLC has contracted with Fagen Engineering and Construction of Granite Falls to build a 50 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant on land near Lamberton. It is expected to cost $66 million to construct and require a total investment of $110,000 to put into operation. The company is aiming to start production in late 2008.
The project includes an investment of $12.5 million in a water treatment facility, according to information filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. The plant will develop one or two high-capacity wells to meet its water needs. The plant will use 384 gallons a minute or 552,960 gallons per day, but much of the cooling water will be recycled within the plant.
The possibility of handling the ethanol plant lime represents the second inquiry from a Redwood County enterprise for landfill space in Renville County.
The Renville County Board had earlier indicated the county's willingness to accept ash wastes from a proposed waste-to-energy project in Redwood County as well. Home Farms Technologies of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, has contracted with Central Bi-Products to use a thermal chemical process to convert municipal solid waste into energy to produce steam. The company estimates that it will produce 15 tons of ash per day.
A petition signed by residents and the township board of Henryville Township -- where the Renville County Landfill is located -- asks that an environmental assessment worksheet be completed on that project.
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The county cannot proceed with acquiring land for an expansion of the landfill until the environmental review is completed, according to attorney Jim Peters of Alexandria. He represents Dennis and Karen Barta, the owners of the land sought for the expansion of the landfill.
