Beverly Eaves Perdue, Govenor                                                                                                         Dee Freeman, Secretary
North Carolina Department of
Environment and Natural Resources


N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resource

Release: Immediate                                                                                               Contact: Cathy Akrod
Date: April 22, 2010                                                                                              Phone: (919) 508-8438 or (919) 733-1579

State renews operating permit for Wallace Farm. Inc.

 RALEIGH - The N.C. Division of Waste Management today renewed Wallace Farm Inc.'s permit to operate its large, type
3 solid waste composting facility in Huntersville.

The permit is effective for five years. Wallace Farm's facility is at 14410 Eastfield Road, Huntersville in northern
Mecklenburg County. The permit aims to minimize odors at the property boundary by imposing conditions beyond existing
rules for best management practices.

The application, operating plan and site meet all requirements of the state's solid waste compost rules and regulations. The draft permit was modified in response to comments received at a public hearing and during a public comment period.

Specific steps imposed by the permit strengthen requirements and minimize odors, including:

  • Limiting incoming feedstock tonnages.
  • Implementing additional monitoring requirements to include on-site documentation of oxygen levels within windrows. Aerobic conditions, or those where oxygen is present, are an essential part of minimizing odors
    during the composting process.
  • Requiring two operators on-site while turning windrows that have been in existence for less than six weeks
    to ensure that each windrow is covered with a 3-inch-to-6-inch layer of finished compost or carbonaceous
    material such as wood chips and finished compost within 90 minutes ofturning. The covering acts as a biofilter,
    which minimizes the odors. The covering requirement is also implemented for each newly created
    windrow.
  • Requiring notification to Mecklenburg County and the N.C. Division of Waste Management one hour prior
    to turning windrows.
  • Eliminating odorous feedstocks based on the N.C. Division of Waste Management's field observations of
    objectionable odors.
  • Forming an advisory panel.
"When the division grants a permit, the review process involved ensures that all requirements of law and regulation are
satisfied," said Paul Crissman, Solid Waste section chief in the N.C. Division of Waste Management. "The division listened
to public comments and accordingly imposed additional requirements, such as defining and strengthening the role of the community advisory panel."

The permit may be viewed on the division's website at http://wastenotnc.org or http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/wm/sw.

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