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AIRPORT COMPOST SITE 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose This report and plan have been prepared by the Dane County Department of Public Works to be presented to the Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Solid Waste Management in accordance with NR502.08(4) Wisconsin Administrative Code for a proposed yard waste composting operation. The projected capacity of the Airport compost site is 20,000 cubic yards. 2. GENERAL INFORMATION 2.1 Location The proposed Airport compost site is located in Dane County near Madison's northeast corporate limits, part of the northeast quarter of Section 20, Township 8 North, Range 10 East (Town of Burke). The site will be located south of Messerschmidt Road approximately 1500 feet west of U.S. Highway 51 (see Figure 1). Access to the site will be from Messerschmidt Road which is bounded on the east by U.S. Highway 51 and by County Highway CV on the west. 2.2 Project Description On June 18, 1987, Dane County adopted Resolution 274 which prohibits the disposal of yard waste at Dane County owned landfills after January 1, 1989. While Dane County encourages decentralized composting of yard waste by individuals and municipalities, the County plans to operate centralized composting facilities to handle source-separated yard wastes. The program will be voluntary in 1988. Because participation is voluntary in 1988, the volume of yard waste that will be delivered to these facilities is difficult to estimate. The Dane County Regional Planning Commission has estimated that 87,000 cubic yards of yard waste are produced annually in the Madison Metro area. Consequently, Dane County assumes that once the separation of yard waste from the waste stream that is landfilled becomes mandatory in 1989, the Airport compost site will be capable of handling 20,000 cubic yards per year. If the need should arise to handle greater than 20,000 cubic yards of separated yard wastes at the Airport composting facility in 1988, or subsequent years, Dane County will handle the excess volume by: 1) applying to the Department of Natural Resources for an exemptiion allowing additional yard waste to be handled at the Airport or other approved compost sites; and 2) estabilshing one or more additional yard waste composting sites. Dane County anticipates operating these sites using low-level technology. The sites will be graded to prevent ponding and surface runoff. A layer of chipped wood will be spread over the site to provide an all-weather work surface. Bulk yard wastes will be delivered to a staging area. The yard waste materials will then be formed into large windrows for composting. Loads containing mixed refuse will not be accepted. After several months, it is expected that much of the initial oxygen demand will be exerted and the volume of the yard waste will be reduced to approximately one-half of its initial volume. In order to maintain aerobic conditions and to optimize the composting process, the windrows will be turned several times per year.