Composting facility in works

Madison Twp. businessman plans to open first Class 2 site in county

The first Class 2 composting facility in Lake County could be opening later this year.

Mark Mackovjak of Madison Township is hoping to open the composting facility on the site of Blue Spruce Storage and Materials, a business he owns and operates at 7551 South Ridge Road in the township.

“Right now, we’re just beginning the engineering work on the site plan,” Mackovjak said last week. “It’s going to take a while. I’m probably anticipating another couple of months, anyway.”

A Class 2 composting facility is one that is registered and licensed to accept items that include yard waste, agricultural plant materials, animal waste, dead animals and food scraps, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Ohio law defines composting as a method of solid waste disposal using controlled biological decomposition,

A Class 2 composting facility is one that is registered and licensed to accept items that include yard waste, agricultural plant materials, animal waste, dead animals and food scraps, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Ohio EPA stated.

Mackovjak initially told Madison Township trustees at a meeting last month that he sent them, via certified mail, a letter of his intent to register a Class 2 composting facility in the township, which would be regulated by the Ohio EPA.

“It’s all going to be open and transparent,” Mackovjak said to the trustees. “There are several requirements I have to do to be approved by Ohio EPA, the most major of which is a site plan. I have engaged an engineering firm to do that.”

There are four classes of licensed composting facilities in Ohio, ranging from

Class 1 — the highest — which accepts mixed solid waste, to Class 4, which accepts yard waste and agricultural plant materials. No Class 2 composting facilities are currently located in Lake, Ashtabula or Geauga counties, Ohio EPA spokesman Anthony Chenault confirmed.

“The closest Class 2 facility to (Mackovjak’s proposed site) is in Cuyahoga County,” Chenault said.

Mackovjak said his facility in Madison Township would be open to residents as well as businesses, government entities or others organizations that might haul in larger amounts of material. He said the facility probably will charge some type of fee based on the quantity of material dropped off, but he will try to keep those costs reasonable.

Madison Township Trustee Kenneth Gauntner Jr. said the township is entering the third year of accepting yard waste at the township’s tree-branch drop-off site.

“Right now, we haul all of that (yard waste) to Saybrook Township (in Ashtabula County),” he told Mackovjak. “So if you do get a license, it would be easier for us to do it locally rather than have to haul it out of town, and work with a local businessman.”

Gauntner also asked Mackovjak about the market that his proposed business would have for compost produced at the site.

Mackovjak said he hopes to find customers such as farmers, horticultural nurseries and gardeners who would be looking for compost

to incorporate into their soil.

But before any compost can be sold to the public, it has to be tested, Mackovjak explained.

“So a sample would have to be sent to an EPA-approved lab and the results would have to come back,” he said.

Mackovjak said he is hoping to secure the required EPA license and open the composting facility “by June, July or at latest August.”

“It’s kind of interesting ... once we get final approval, we have to wait 90 days, I guess, for public comments or other issues.”

Mackovjak said he’s learned that launching an Ohio EPA-approved composting facility is not a cheap or easy process, but he still believes it’s a worthwhile

endeavor.

“We’re looking forward to this as an economic stimulus for us as a business, but also as a service for the community because disposal of some of these organic wastes is cumbersome, difficult and can lead to some friction possibly at certain times.”

The Lake County Department of Utilities, which include the Solid Waste Division, also has received a letter from Mackovjak announcing his intent to open a Class 2 composting facility.

“From our perspective, (a Class 2 composting facility) is a great thing for Lake County, as long as it’s properly managed and operated,” said Matthew Armand, administrator of the Lake County Department of Utilities.