Ex-Borrow Pit To Get New Use As Compost Farm

THONOTOSASSA - The owner of a former borrow pit north of the old Taylor Road Landfill is giving the vast expanse of excavated land a new identity: He's transforming it into an organic composting operation that will turn yard waste into rich soil.

Land owner Bill Stanton is converting the former Malone Borrow Pit on County Road 579 into Mother's Organics Inc., a company that will sell its soil-amendment products wholesale to farmers and area residents.

As many as 50 trucks a day will head to the property and dump loads of yard waste, which will be separated into categories, said Mother's Organics President Pete Nelson.

Among the products the farm will produce is humus - not the edible kind, but a material created by the decomposition of organic waste that provides nutrients for plants and increases the ability of soil to retain water.

Stanton said he hopes to have the operation open to customers within a few months.

His crew is busy sloping and grading the 54-acre site, something that has piqued the interest of his neighbors - some of whom are suspicious of anyone operating an active or former borrow pit.

Such pits are created when construction crews excavate fill for use building homes, businesses and roads. In Thonotosassa, the land has been pock-marked with borrow pits because soil there is especially suitable for such uses.

"People wonder why our fangs come out when someone wants to dig in here," said Pauline Grant, president of the Thonotosassa, Seffner, Mango Civic Association.

Too many times, she said, the community has been subjected to unsightly borrow pits that spew dust in the air and attract parades of trucks to local roads.

Add that to frequent illegal dumping in the community and dealing with the Taylor Road Landfill, once used as a hazardous waste dump, and residents are leery.

"We've had enough," Grant said.

Cam Oberting, president of the Taylor Road Civic Association, said she is concerned the operation will create dust and too much traffic. "I really don't think it's a good use for a former borrow pit," Oberting said. But she said she's not sure what might be a suitable use.

Because the property falls within a 5-mile radius of the old Taylor Road Landfill, a federally designated Superfund site, filling activities are severely restricted by the county.

However, Stanton received a permit from Hillsborough County in January 2005 which allows some filling on the property and shifting dirt from one part of the acreage to another, said Christa Hull, an environmental scientist with the county's Natural Resources division.

Stanton said he has every intention of running a safe, clean, environmentally friendly operation.

"Humus has been generated since the pilgrims came ashore and the Indians gave them fish heads to stick in their gardens," he said. "It's a reuse of natural resources, and we plan to do it responsibly."

He and Nelson acknowledged that animal manure may, at times, be mixed with the yard waste to create the compost.

Some of the yard waste, like large branches, will be honed into timber. The rest will be slid down into the reclaimed borrow pit, where it will be ground up and placed in "digestion pits." Water will be added and, over time, the yard waste will become organic soil amendments for use growing crops or gardens.

In addition to running the humus farm, Nelson said Mother's Organics hopes to arrange field trips where families with children can visit the property and learn about recycling and the process used to compost yard waste.

Stanton said the property will be landscaped. "We're going to build something that's comfortable to the eyes," he said, adding that neighbors won't be subjected to odors coming from the humus farm.

"It's low impact to the community around it," Nelson said. "And it's a responsible way to recycle waste ... and turn it into something productive."

Before the operation can get under way, Mother's Organics needs another permit from the county's Environmental Protection Commission.

Ron Cope, general manager for the EPC's Solid and Hazardous Waste Division, said Stanton will need the agency's permission before the first truck pulls onto the property.

Mark LaFon, Stanton's site engineer, said an application for the EPC permit is in the works.

The Tampa Tribune | Published on August 24, 2006
By Yvette C. Hammett