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Vol. X No. 3

May /June 2016

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NEWS

Burning Issues Continue Over Wood As Energy Source

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By P.J. Heller

ew battle lines are being drawn in both the United States and Europe over the contentious issue of whether emissions from power plants burning wood pellets to produce energy are carbon-neutral or if they are actually generating more carbon emissions than if the plants were burning only coal. The outcome could have major implications for the mulch industry in the U.S., which although a small player in the forest residuals market, has been impacted by the huge demand for wood pellets, particularly from the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. Among the latest developments in the skirmish: ➤ The Securities and Exchange Commission is asked by nearly three dozen pension and investment funds to more closely monitor companies’ climate benefit claims, and establish and enforce clear guidelines applicable to companies that may be claiming climate benefits. ➤ European leaders begin considering new policies and guidelines for the use of wood energy. ➤ Belgium pulls the plug on plans to subsidize what it said would be the world’s largest wood chip-biomass fired power plant, effectively killing plans for its construction. ➤ The U.S. Senate passes the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 which includes an amendment that encourages the burning

of wood pellets to create energy and which describes the practice as carbon-neutral. A letter opposing the amendment is signed by 60 top U.S. climate scientists. “Legislating scientific facts is never a good idea, but is especially bad when the ‘facts’ are incorrect,” the letter says. Another letter from more than 75 environmental and community groups urged the Senate to reject the entire bill due to the biomass amendment. ➤ The New York Times, the Washington Post and the MIT Technology Review rail against the Senate amendment that would list biomass as a renewable energy resource because of its so-called carbon-neutrality. “This is a rank example of Congress legislating science rather than allowing agency experts to make determinations based on facts, and the results could be very bad for the environment,” the Post said. MIT Technology Review called the amendment “junk science.” One of the latest shots that was fired came from the 34 pension and investment funds, who asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate what they said were misleading statements made by the world’s largest wood pellet manufacturer concerning emissions and environmental impacts when it prepared to go public in 2015 on the New York Stock Exchange. Continued on page 3

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Burning Issues Continue Over Wood As Energy Source Continued from page 1 Enviva, a Maryland-based company which operates six plants in the southeastern U.S., “makes multiple statements that either imply, or state directly, that burning biomass ‘reduces’ power plant emissions. Enviva does not disclose in any SEC filing that combustion emissions are not counted under European carbon accounting protocols,” according to the letter to the SEC. “Enviva claims that burning their wood pellets reduces emissions by more t h a n 8 0 p e rc e n t , compared to coal,” notes Mary S. Booth, director at the Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI). “However, d at a f ro m D r a x Power in the UK, one of Enviva’s biggest customers, show the facility emits more CO2 when burning wood and other biomass than when burning coal, a physical reality that contradicts Enviva’s claims. It’s urgent that the bioenergy industry come clean on its real carbon and forest impacts.” An Enviva spokesman dismissed the claims by PFPI, noting that “strong scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that wood biomass produces about 80 percent less lifetime carbon emissions than coal . . . Authoritative, independent scientific and public policy organizations have taken positions that contradict PFPI.” He said similar allegations were made by the organization and investor groups in the past against three publicly-traded electric utilities that use wood biomass to generate power and that “PFPI has not cited any response or acknowledgment by any agency or official organization in more than two years, which raises significant questions about the validity of these charges.” Enviva also cited studies and reports to bolster its case that wood biomass produces less lifetime carbon emissions than coal when used to create energy. “These impeccable public policy and scientific sources support the lifetime greenhouse gas benefits of wood biomass compared to fossil fuels. The PFPI report you cite does not include any credible evidence that disputes these sources,” Enviva said. One study referenced, in November 2015, looked specifically at wood pellets produced in the U.S. and exported to the United Kingdom to replace coal in electric power generation. It concluded that wood pellets produce lifetime carbon emissions that are 74 to 85 percent lower than coal, according to Enviva. Enviva produces about 2.2 million metric tons of wood pellets annually. Robert C. LaGasse, executive director of the Mulch and Soil Council, notes that under a UK “loophole,” biomass is considered as zero emissions, even though he says it emits even more

carbon than coal to produce the same amount of energy. Biomass got a pass on emissions because when the UK and other countries set their carbon reduction goals, they “manipulated the rules” to reduce the use of coal and fossil fuels “by turning a blind eye to the consequences of the alternatives,” he says. “You’re getting a free pass on the biomass because of a regulatory decision, not a scientific one. Science is an inconvenient truth. These are political issues. They’re not scientific issues,” LaGasse adds. “All these companies are claiming they’re having this great environmental benefit but they’re not counting the major emissions.” Scot Quaranda, a spokesman for Dogwood Alliance, agrees. “The science behind it is really silly,” he says. “Their basic assumption is if you cut down a tree and burn it, as long as another tree is planted in its place, it’s carbon-neutral. So they’re not counting the smokestack emissions. They’re just using this kind of theoretical: cut a tree, plant a tree, all is good.” “Renewable energy is not automatically carbon-neutral, and power plant emissions data demonstrate that burning wood for fuel emits more carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of electricity than burning coal,” explains Dogwood Alliance, a nonprofit that works to protect Southern forests. “Forest studies and modeling confirm that while trees may ultimately grow back and offset carbon emissions from burning wood, this process takes decades to more than a century, to the extent that it occurs.” “You burn a tree you release all the carbon in one fell swoop. You replace it with a sapling and it takes that sapling 30 years to grow and soak up what you released in an instant,” agrees LaGasse. European leaders, meantime, are looking into new policies and guidelines for the use of wood energy. A public comment period recently ended and a draft version is expected within the next six months. That report will eventually go to the European Parliament for debate. Quaranda says his Asheville, N.C.-based organization is optimistic that change will be coming. “In general, there’s agreement this [burning wood for energy] isn’t as clean and green as we thought it was. We anticipate that there will be a much stronger policy,” he says. “More and more scientists have been weighing in to say they think wholesale burning of wood for electricity is a bad idea because

“You burn a tree you release all the carbon in one fell swoop. You replace it with a sapling and it takes that sapling 30 years to grow and soak up what you released in an instant.”

of its impacts on climate” and that a “much more measured policy is needed,” Quaranda says. “Environmental groups around the world are concerned about this issue and weighing in on it as well. We’re even seeing some industry players, especially European companies if they use wood, weighing in from the concept called ‘cascading use.’” Under that concept, the best use for wood is its highest use. “So we should be letting trees grow to use them for lumber rather than cutting them down and burning them for electricity,” he explains. In Belgium, government officials recently announced they would not subsidize what had been described as the world’s largest wood chipbiomass fired power plant. The 215 megawatt plant planned for Ghent would have required a subsidy of $2 billion Euros. Former Belgium energy minister Annemie Turtelboom, who resigned in May, had said that biomass was neither green nor sustainable. “Not only is that not financially sound, but biomass is not even a green or sustainable solution. It’s actually a form of environmental deception,” added Gwendolyn Rutten, a Belgium politician with the Open VLD party. A second biomass facility in Lanherlo was constructed but was reported for sale by its Continued on page 10

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PUBLICATION STAFF Publisher / Editor Rick Downing Contributing Editors / Writers Ron Arnold • P.J. Heller Ann Purvis • Sandy Woodthorpe Production & Layout Barb Fontanelle • Christine Pavelka Advertising Sales Rick Downing Subscription / Circulation Donna Downing Editorial, Circulation & Advertising Office 6075 Hopkins Road, Mentor, OH 44060 Ph: 440-257-6453 • Fax: 440-257-6459 Email: downassoc2@oh.rr.com Subscription information, call 440-257-6453. Soil & Mulch Producer News is published bimonthly by Downing & Associates. Reproductions or transmission in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher, is prohibited. Annual subscription rate U.S. is $19.95. Outside of the U.S. add $10.00 ($29.95). Contact our main office, or mail-in the subscription form with payment. ©

May / June 2016 Soil & Mulch Producer News

Soil

Mulch Producer NEWS [ c o m m e n ta r y ]

Wikipedia and the Climate Non-Debate By Ron Arnold

ikipedia, known as the “people’s encyclopedia,” has proven to be anything but a reliable source in regards to the debate concerning the causes and possible consequences of climate change. Wikipedia is written and edited “by the people who read it,” and it receives more than 400 million unique visitors every month worldwide, according to GuideStar. The massive website has about 80,000 volunteers, a substantial number of whom are devoted enough to earn the unpaid rank of “editor.” Editors are provided with a fat book of rules to follow and a code of civility to honor. Wikipedia has emerged as an influential tool used by climate alarmists against climate change realists, who are unwilling to accept political proclamations that there is an indisputable consensus humans are causing catastrophic climate change. Dogmatic climate doomsters ignore Wikipedia’s rules and spend days plowing through reams of Wikipedia pages to track down and purge or alter any entry daring to challenge the view humans are responsible for global warming.

‘Snuffing Out’ Dissent, Smearing Scientists

im Dabelstein Petersen is one editor who has been singled out by National Review (NR) for “seeing any dissent, or even someone correcting an obvious slander against a dissenter, and immediately snuffing them out.” NR says another editor “tore down scientists of great accomplishment such as S. Fred Singer, the first director of the U.S. National Weather Satellite Service. … Several editors relentlessly smear Singer as a kook who believes in Martians and a hack in the pay of the oil industry.”

Trying to fix these smears often does no good. Lawrence Solomon, executive director of the Canadian organization Energy Probe, recently made important corrections to a Wikipedia page, but they vanished. “I made the changes again, and this time confirmed that the changes had been saved, but then, in a twinkle, they were gone again,” said Solomon. “I made other changes, and then others. They all disappeared shortly after they were made.” On another Wikipedia page, titled “Climate Change Denial,” a shameless screed of scurrilous insults and alarmist rants brings to mind the observation of Atlantic magazine journalist David H. Freedman: “[Alarmists] seem constitutionally incapable of giving fair consideration to, or in some cases even acknowledging, expert evidence and arguments (even if in the minority) that question whether we are really in the midst of a man-made global climate crisis.”

‘Wikibullies’

he truly vicious “Wikibullies” are the site’s “administrators.” Wikipedia grants administrators the authority to block and unblock user accounts from editing and to edit fully protected pages. They also have the power to delete and undelete entire entries without restriction. One Wikipedia editor, who was eventually discredited and fired for abusive edits, was former software engineer, one-time climate modeler, and perennial Green Party candidate William M. Connolley. His most notable credential is as a contributor to RealClimate.org, a vanity climate science commentary website that’s written by a small number of self-aggrandizing climate alarmists. Continued on next page

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Continued from previous page

Connolley acted as a Wikipedia administrator from 2006 to 2009. During this period, Connolley rifled through more than 5,000 Wikipedia pages, falsifying numerous skeptic biographies and credible climate science postings. His actions were so egregious, Wikipedia banned Connolley from touching climate change pages and eventually permanently banned him from editing or posting on Wikipedia. Wikipedia’s steady climate march to the left did not end when Connolley was fired, raising questions about whether he was the cause or a symptom of a larger problem. In 2008, Solomon concluded Wikipedia’s ideological biases are not limited to global warming. “As an environmentalist I find myself with allies and adversaries on both sides of the aisle, Left and Right,” Solomon wrote in National Review. “But there is no doubt where Wikipedia stands: firmly on the Left. Try out Wikipedia’s entries on say, Roe v. Wade or Intelligent Design, and you will see that Wikipedia is the people’s encyclopedia only if those people are not conservatives.”

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ikipedia is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funding and control center. If you follow the trail of money that’s used to keep the Wikimedia Foundation doors open, it’s not difficult to see why Wikipedia has made a sharp leftward turn on climate-related topics. Wikimedia’s income from grants between 2009 and 2013 alone amounted to $178.5 million. Most of this money comes from left-wing foundations that have a history of giving to anti-capitalist environmental groups that promote climate alarmism and government restrictions on fossil fuel use. For example, the Tides Foundation donated $2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation from 2009 to 2013 and gave another $1.4 million to promote the theory of human-caused climate change to 12 leftist climate groups, including 350.org and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Hewlett Foundation gave Wikimedia $1.3 million between 2009 and 2013 and an astronomical $209.8 million to more than 20 climate change groups, such as the Climateworks Foundation and the Energy Foundation, during the same period. All this should be incredibly troubling to climate change realists, especially now that the Wikimedia Foundation is working to create a search engine it believes will be able to compete with Google. Wikimedia’s Knowledge Engine is “a system for discovering reliable and trustworthy public information on the Internet.” In today’s world, where climate skeptics are threatened with criminal investigations for speaking truth to power, the words “reliable” and “trustworthy” help to provide a perfect excuse to expand Wiki-censorship around the world.

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Lawsuits Are Piling Up Against EPA By Ann N. Purvis

awsuits challenging various environmental regulations are piling up. On March 3, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts declined to halt an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule regulating mercury emissions from power plants. The rule is currently under review in the Washington, DC Court of Appeals. In February, the Supreme Court placed a temporary stay on the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan while an appellate court considers the case. Twenty states fighting against the federal mercury emissions standards hoped the Court would grant a similar stay in their case while EPA worked to finish a cost-benefit analysis mandated by the Supreme Court in June 2015.

Court Considers Property Rights Case

he Court heard oral arguments on March 30 in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes, a case that will determine when landowners can challenge a government agency’s judgment that private property contains “wetlands,” which are subject to federal regulations. While the Hawkes case has received relatively little attention, Mark Miller—a managing attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, a member of the legal team that will be arguing the case before the Supreme Court— says Hawkes is an important case for property rights. The plaintiffs in the case are three family operated companies in Minnesota that process peat, a material that can be found in bogs and is often used for landscaping. Miller says while the Hawkes’ property does contain wetlands, “not all wetlands are subject to federal control.” The federal government claimed authority over the Hawkes’ land under the Clean Water Act. When the plaintiffs tried to challenge the government’s determination, a trial court said the case was not ripe for court review, because it wasn’t “final agency action.” The government argued the Hawkes must first apply for a permit to disturb the wetlands before it can challenge the government’s claim of authority over the land. The Court in Hawkes will decide at what stage a lower federal court can hear and decide if the Clean Water Act applies to particular wetlands, not whether the Hawkes’ land contains wetlands. “[The case] is about a landowner’s access to a neutral judge when federal agencies try to regulate [property] under the Clean Water Act,” said Miller. That question is important because the procedural hurdles faced by landowners seeking a Clean Water Act permit are immense. In its brief to the Court, the Hawkes legal team cited a previous Supreme Court decision

that noted the average applicant for such a permit “spends 788 days and $271,596 in completing the process.” Miller says if the Court rules against the plaintiffs, “landowners will have to continue to waste years and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to exercise their constitutional right to use their property,” said Miller. “Many land owners will simply throw in the towel and give up their rights, rather than try to fight a government that has unlimited time and money.” The case is especially noteworthy in light of the government’s controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which expanded what the federal government considers “navigable waters” under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. States and industry groups across the nation have filed suits challenging EPA’s WOTUS rule, which has been put on hold by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati while it considers the rule’s legality.

Other Lawsuits

ther lawsuits challenging Obama administration environmental rules include a lawsuit filed by the State of Texas on February 29 challenging EPA’s implementation of a federal Regional Haze Plan and suits brought by nine states, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Manufacturers challenging EPA’s ozone standard, which was issued in late 2015. The ozone rule requires cuts to the acceptable surface-level of ozone from 75 parts per billion to 70. The lawsuits argue EPA failed to conduct an appropriate scientific review before issuing the new standards. States and business groups challenging the rule also say the standards are unnecessary and have costs that exceed any purported benefits.

Limits on Executive Power

iller says federal and state courts are playing an increasingly important role in protecting against government overreach and burdensome environmental regulations. “The makeup of the courts is tremendously important when it comes to litigation over environmental regulations,” said Miller. “The United States needs judges who recognize the limits on executive power that are set out in the U.S. Constitution.” Ann N. Purvis (ann.n.purvis@gmail.com) writes from Dallas, Texas. This article was reprinted with permission from heartland.org, a product of The Heartland Institute (http://news.heartland.org/newspaperarticle/2016/04/14/lawsuits-piling-against-obama-epa).

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Short-Packing Claims Against Gro-Well Continue

class action lawsuit accusing mulch manufacturer Gro-Well Brands of underfilling its bags will be heard in court after all, according to a Law360 article. A California federal judge denied a motion to dismiss, saying that Gro-Well is not protected by state packaging laws. The motion to dismiss gives validity to a complaint filed against Lowe’s Home Centers and Gro-Well Brands Inc. in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California last year. Lowe’s contracted with Gro-Well for the “manufacture, packaging, distribution, and sale of Premium Mulch,” which is sold exclusively at Lowe’s stores. The complaint alleged that the quantity of mulch in the home and garden store’s Premium Mulch bags was misrepresented. It is not the “2 CU Ft.” that is printed on the label. Under an agreement between the two companies, the packaging created by Lowe’s and Gro-Well was to “utilize a standard mechanized process for distributing a uniform amount of mulch in each bag. The suit is based on provisions of the California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the UCL, California Business & Professions Code Section 17200, et seq., California’s False Advertising Law, the consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices acts of each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, fraudulent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment. The case follows on the heels of a previous packaging fraud case involving Lowe’s, which was heard in Illinois District Court last year. The judge in that case denied Lowe’s motion to dismiss, finding that the fraud-based allegations “are sufficient to plausibly suggest that Lowe’s both knew of the alleged short-packing scheme and participated in it.” Judge Mueller found that the plaintiff’s allegations were sufficient to state a quasi-contract claim for restitution. According to its website, Gro-Well Brands is the largest company in the Southwest US specializing in the production and marketing of all natural and organic products.

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Researchers Say Soil Offers Answers for Fighting Drought

iverside, CA – A University of California, Riverside assistant professor and her team of researchers are using an often overlooked tool, in the form of soil, to fight drought in that state, according to a UCRToday.edu article. With California’s water uncertainty and the recent drought costing the state more than $2.7 billion along with 17,100 jobs in 2015 alone, the research is timely. Samantha Ying, an assistant professor of environmental sciences, received a $1.69 million grant from the University of California Office of the President to fund a study on the role of soil that is expected to show how crops use water and respond to drought. The grant allows for the establishment of the University of California Consortium for Drought and Carbon Management (UC DroCaM), which will design management strategies based on understanding soil carbon, the soil microbiome and their impacts on water dynamics in soil. In the soil microbiome, physical, chemical and biological interactions form soil aggregates that are critical in storing carbon, but also contain the small pores needed to retain moisture. The study design combines field and lab research. Different farming practices and irrigation methods will be tested to observe soil properties in row plantings of tomatoes, alfalfa and wheat. The team, led by Ying, consists of researchers at three UC campuses (Davis, Berkeley, Merced), Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and several Agricultural Research and Extension Centers. The field research will be conducted at three UC Research and Extension Centers (Kearney, West Side and Desert) the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility near UC Davis.

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Burning Issues Continue Over Wood As Energy Source Continued from page 3

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owner. It was never operated. Guido Camps, former head of the energy regulator Creg, agreed with Open VLD. “Biomass is a bad idea,” he said. “The facilities in Ghent and Langerlo are a neverending story. They are more expensive and dirtier than solar and wind power, and they will never be able to survive without subsidies.” LaGasse has been highly critical of subsidized biomass operations. “I think the whole system is unsustainable,” he says. “Any market that is supported predominantly by subsidized tax dollars and cannot survive in a free market economy cannot last. So all of the investment made to support that, when those tax subsidies disappear, the whole pyramid collapses.” Still unresolved is the fate of the Energy Policy Modernization Act in Congress. House and Senate conferees need to meet to try to reconcile their versions. Unknown is whether the biomass amendment — led by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Angus King (I-Maine) and Amy Klobucher (D-MN) — will survive. “While the carbon neutrality of biomass harvested from sustainably managed forests has been recognized repeatedly by numerous studies, agencies, institutions, and rules around the world, current policy uncertainty could end up jeopardizing rather than encouraging investments in working forests, harvesting operations, bioenergy, wood products, and paper manufacturing,” Collins said in a statement. “… By requiring every federal department to be on the same page when it comes to biomass policy, our amendment will ensure that biomass will play an important role in shaping a clean and affordable energy future for America.” Among those supporting the amendment: the National Alliance of Forest Owners, the American Forest and Paper Association, the Biomass Power Association and the American Wood Council. However, a letter signed by 65 research scientists and practitioners, urged the amendment be rejected. “This well-intentioned legislation, which claims to address climate change, would in fact promote deforestation in the U.S. and elsewhere,” it said. “The amendment would require all federal departments and agencies to promote consistent policies that ‘reflect the carbon neutrality of forest bioenergy and recognize biomass as a renewable energy source.’ Mandating that there are no carbon dioxide emissions from burning wood from forests to produce energy does not make it so in fact,” it added. The Senate approved the measure with the amendment by 85-12. The House approved its version in December.

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Residents Force Sonoma County to Drop Compost Facility Plans

otati, CA – A group of citizens prevailed over government in a legal settlement that includes nixing of a planned $55 million composting facility in Sonoma County, reports Petaluma360.com. The project, which was to be built near a county landfill, faced questions and opposition from the initial planning stages. Eventually, residents living near the proposed site brought a lawsuit which rendered the government’s near decade of planning – and some $1 million spent on a study – an expensive undertaking. In April, the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency agreed to drop the project if the neighbors would dismiss their lawsuit. In 2015, another group of citizens forced closure of the Sonoma Compost Co. by invoking a provision of the Clean Water Act, alleging that runoff from compost piles on the company’s 25-acre site had been polluting a creek for 20 years. The company was unable to implement upgrades that would have been required. The residents had brought suit against the county, which owns the landfill, the waste agency, which leases the site, and Sonoma Compost. The closure of that facility forced the county waste management agency to begin hauling 100,000 tons of green waste to other counties at a cost to ratepayers of about $4.5 million per year. The future of the county’s waste management agency itself is uncertain. After receiving a one-year extension to its 25-year life, the agency’s operating agreement is now set to expire in 2018. The national waste management company, Republic Services, which took over permanent operation of the landfill from the county last year, has not indicated any interest or plans in operating a compost site. Republic’s contract with the county does not require it to do so.

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May / June 2016 Soil & Mulch Producer News 13

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Wood as Biofuel for Power Plants: ‘Renewable Energy,’ says Senate Bill

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ashington, D.C. – Controversy has erupted over a provision in the Senate’s latest bipartisan energy bill, S. 2012, which defines wood harvested from forests as “renewable energy,” reports Dailycaller.com. As stated in the bill, the intent of classifying wood as “renewable energy” is to encourage private investment throughout the forest biomass supply chain, including working forests, harvesting operations, forest improvement operations, forest bioenergy production, wood products manufacturing, or paper manufacturing, to encourage forest management, to improve forest health and recognize State initiatives to produce and use forest biomass. But it’s Part IV, Section 3017 of the “Energy Policy Modernization Act” that really has riled up critics. The provision mandates the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promote wood as a green energy source. This move has been criticized as short-sighted and economically driven, ignoring science-based evidence. Washington Post editors lambasted the directive as “. . [a] rank example of Congress legislating science rather than allowing agency experts to make determinations based on facts, and the results could be very bad for the environment.” In directing bureaucrats to formulate and carry out policies that in effect promote biomass energy, the lawmakers have tossed a hot potato. The bill also provides for logging on federal lands as a way to support woody biomass production and biomass power generation on Indian lands. “For each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021, the Secretary shall enter into an agreement or contract with an Indian tribe or a tribal organization to carry out a demonstration project to promote biomass energy production (including biofuel, heat, and electricity generation) by providing reliable supplies of woody biomass from Federal land.” As defined in the bill, the term ‘‘Federal land’’ means land of the National Forest System (as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)) administered by the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service; and public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)), the surface of which is administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Passed by the Senate on April 20, the bill is an 800-page document that also includes provisions for oil, gas, hydroelectric, wind and solar power.

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14 Soil & Mulch Producer News May / June 2016

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May / June 2016 Soil & Mulch Producer News 15

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ADVERTISER NEWS Morbark President Wins Bandit Industries, Inc. Receives Presidential Award for Export Successes

sabella County, MI — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker presented Bandit Industries, Inc. with the President’s “E” Award for Exports at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on May 16. The President’s “E” Award is the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. This year, 123 awards were presented, with 72 awards going to manufacturers. Bandit Industries President Jerry Morey and International Sales Manager Felipe Tamayo accepted the award for Bandit during the ceremony held in the U.S. Department of Commerce building. “Bandit Industries has demonstrated a sustained commitment to export expansion,” Secretary Pritzker said in her congratulatory letter to Bandit Industries announcing its selection as an award recipient. “The “E” Awards Committee was very impressed with Bandit Industries’ adaption of its product line for export markets. The company’s creative solution to enter the European market was also particularly notable. Bandit Industries’ achievements have undoubtedly contributed to national export expansion efforts that support the U.S. economy and create American jobs.”

Komptech Americas Secures New Dealer in IA, MN, SD and WI

estminster, CO — Minnesota based company, Theco Inc., has been in the aggregate and recycling equipment industry for 25+ years. With a desire to bring their customers innovative and high quality options for shredding, screening, composting, and separation equipment, they recently partnered with Komptech Americas. According to Komptech officials, Komptech’s extensive line of equipment helps position Theco, and its already well established customer base, to profit from environmental recycling in the Midwest.

Michigan Manufacturer of the Year

inn, MI — Morbark, LLC, recently announced that their President, James W. Shoemaker Jr., has been named the 2016 John G. Thodis Michigan Manufacturer of the Year Award recipient for Large Tier companies by the Michigan Manufacturers Association (MMA). Now in its 35th year, the Award program recognizes manufacturers for their dedication to community service, issue advocacy and their role as a symbol of the positive work being done by the manufacturing industry. “I’m deeply honored,” said Shoemaker. “More importantly, this award really belongs to the great team here at Morbark who are truly committed to what we do. These Morbark men and women are proud to be manufacturers and demonstrate that passion each and every day. I’ve been privileged to help promote their efforts.” Shoemaker joined Morbark in 2003 as Director of Operations before being promoted to Vice President of Operations, and then was appointed President in 2011. “Jim Shoemaker is a great example of what it means to be a Michigan manufacturer, and he has helped position Morbark, LLC, as a top manufacturer in the state,” said Chuck Hadden, president and CEO of the Michigan Manufacturers Association. “Every recipient of the Michigan Manufacturer of the Year Award carries on the memory of John G. Thodis, MMA’s longest-serving CEO. The Large Tier category award is presented to a company with 200 or more employees. Shoemaker is being honored for the effort he has put forth in promoting Michigan’s manufacturing industry. He is a founder of one of Michigan’s most respected regional industry associations (the Central Michigan Manufacturers Association), partner to both the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center and MMA, a voice on top economic issues impacting businesses across the state, and an advocate for promoting a positive image of manufacturing careers.

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May / June 2016 Soil & Mulch Producer News 17

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Maine Moves Forward with $13.4 Million Taxpayer Bailout of Biomass

ugusta, ME – After much debate, Maine’s State Legislature voted overwhelmingly to pass a $13.4 million taxpayer-financed bailout to keep biomass power plants going, reports a PressHerald.com article. As states have shifted their Renewable Energy Certificates to higher efficiency renewable energy producers, and gas and oil prices have remained low, utility-scale biomass power plants have been losing money. According to the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine, an estimated 1,300 jobs are linked to the six biomass plants left in Maine. Supporters of the bill argued that the state’s dwindling blue collar jobs are at stake, as well as Maine’s legacy of logging. Together, biomass and logging generate some $300 million per year in wages and revenue. Opponents of the bill say it lacks guarantees for saving the biomass energy plants, and because the bill does not allow plants that have been shut down to go back online, just three of the six plants are likely to benefit. Tax money diverted from the state’s rainy day fund will be used to prop up two of the state’s six ailing biomass energy plants – both owned by ReEnergy Holdings, LLC. Another private equity firm, Covanta Holding Group Corp., owns several plants. ReEnergy Holdings is owned by Riverstone Holdings LLC, a New Yorkbased private equity firm founded in 2000 by two former Goldman Sachs bankers. It is worth an estimated $33 billion. Eliminated from the bill was a $100 million project in Aroostook County involving J.D. Irving and ReEnergy. Irving, a wood supplier to ReEnergy, was looking at constructing a wood pellet mill that would export product to Europe.

Commercial Food Waste Composting Takes Off in St. Louis

t. Louis, MO – A growing number of St. Louis area businesses are planning to compost food waste, reports a STLToday.com article. When grocery chain, Straub’s, started separating its food waste for pick up by St. Louis Composting about five years ago, the food giant was at the front of a commercial composting trend that has helped the composter prosper and expand. St. Louis Composting company launched Total Organics Recycling in 2014 to handle commercial food waste collection from groceries, restaurants and institutions such as Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Zoo and Washington University. Now, the company collects about 250 to 300 tons of food waste a week. That’s up from about 150 to 200 tons per week it collected just a year ago. Acquiring another composting company in the region boosted business even more. The city of St. Louis has not mandated food waste composting, and it probably won’t for some time, according to observers. Yet many residents have taken it upon themselves to bring an additional 200 or so tons of food scraps to St. Louis Composting sites every week. The company sells the compost it makes at its 110-acre site to landscapers and homeowners in bulk or by the bag through an agreement with the Missouri Botanical Garden. The expense of the service has been reasonable enough to appeal to many new customers, according to St. Louis Composting’s spokesperson. Removing the weight of food scraps tends to decrease costs of regular trash pick-up.

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18 Soil & Mulch Producer News May / June 2016

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May / June 2016 Soil & Mulch Producer News 19

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Record Highs for North American Wood Pellet Exports

ood pellet exports have been on the rise for some time, but levels reached record highs in 2015, reports a BusinessWire.com article. According to the North American Wood Fiber Review (NAWFR) wood pellets from North America totaled 6.1 million tons in 2015, which is nearly four times as much as in 2010. The 4Q/15 numbers showed a seven percent increase from the previous quarter to just over 1.7 million tons. Shipments from US Gulf States (mainly to Europe) shot up by 70 percent from 2Q/15 to 4Q/15. This southern region has seen brisk development and solidification of pellet manufacturing infrastructure with German Pellets in Louisiana, Drax Biomass’s two new plants in Louisiana and Mississippi, and Zilkha Biomass Energy in Alabama. Overall, Canadian pellet overseas exports increased by 17 percent from the previous quarter with shipments going up to both Europe and Asia, with a slightly higher volume heading to Asia, primarily Japan. While China and South Korea source most of their pellets from South Vietnam, Japan’s renewable energy policies position that country for increased demand, now and over the long term. This year’s first quarter showed a decline in pellet exports to Europe, the NAWFR notes, mainly due to a mild winter on the Continent, but this is expected to be a short-term trend. NAWFR is published by Wood Resources International LLC (WRI), an internationally recognized forest industry consulting firm, which collects trade data from a number of sources including Canadian and US customs export data, European import data and from quarterly conversations with both pellet exporters and port contacts.

Yard Works Acquires Waltrip Recycling in Williamsburg, VA

ard Works recently announced that it has completed the acquisition of Waltrip Recycling, Inc.’s assets, launching the Richmond-based landscape product company’s expansion into the Greater Williamsburg Area, with its sixth retail location. According to Yard Works, the company is now servicing former Waltrip residential and commercial clients. Yard Works is one of Central Virginia’s leading manufacturer of premier landscape products, providing recycling and land clearing services. “Larry Waltrip was a pioneer in the landscaping products and recycling industry and has been semi-retired but now is looking forward to full retirement and spending more time fishing. Yard Works is looking forward to continuing his vision of customer service and quality products that he started delivering in 1991,” said Chief Operating Officer Robbie Urbine. “Yard Works is very excited about expanding our operations into Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown,” said Yard Works Chief Operating Officer Robbie Urbine. “The acquisition of Waltrip Recycling allows us to serve thousands of new residential and commercial customers in the Historic Triangle and give them the opportunity to experience the Yard Works difference and get access to premium land improvement products and recycling services.” Although this is the company’s first retail operation in the Williamsburg area, Yard Works opened up a mulching and recycling facility in nearby West Point in 2013. The company currently serves the cities of Richmond and Charlottesville, and has retail operations in Powhatan, Goochland, Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties.

Product/Equipment Profiles ClearSpan Unveils the New Commodity HD Building

VECOPLAN MIDWEST Introduces CPP, Containerized Pellet Plant

learSpan, one of the industry-leaders in fabric building solutions, unveiled its brand new structure, the Commodity HD Building. The structure features an open side that simplifies bulk and aggregate storage. The new design is ideal for bulk supply, construction and more, due to the open side that provides easy access for multiple vehicles. This design also allows for the structure to be broken down into separate storage bays, making it easy to keep aggregate materials separate. The Commodity HD Building offers maximum clearance, enabling large equipment to be easily operated within the structure. Commodity HD Buildings can be clad with custom covers and end panels. For those looking to cover the open side, side panels are available to either partially or completely enclose the side. The structure is also built to withstand corrosive environments, making it an ideal solution for salt storage, marine applications and more. The frame is built from American-made, triple-galvanized steel, and each building is covered with 12.5 oz., 24 mil rip-stop polyethylene fabric , which is UV resistant and comes in four color options. ClearSpan Commodity HD Buildings come with industry-leading warranties, which include 50 years on the frame and 20 years on the cover.

PP is the q u i c k , easy and affordable solution for 1 to 2 ton per hour pellet production. A turnkey pellet production plant housed in standard shipping containers, the CPP is designed, built and shipped from Vecoplan Midwest’s New Albany, IN location. It comes complete with controls, and arrives on 2 semi-trucks. All you provide is a flat 40’ surface and electric feed to the main panel. A crane is used to stack the containers and the CPP can be up and running production within 4 hours. The CCP easily adapts to most existing trailer load out systems, alleviates the need for expensive buildings and is the perfect for processing, wood, biomass, feed products, manures, most anything that needs to be pelleted. The plant can be relocated in a very short time should the need arise. Vecoplan Midwest stands ready to provide after sales service and parts as well as on site operator training.

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20 Soil & Mulch Producer News May / June 2016

For more information contact Vecoplan Midwest at: Phone: 812-923-4992, Email: bmiller@vecoplanmidwest.com or visit our website at: www.vecoplanmidwest.com.

Soil

Governments Wrangle Over Mulch Ordinances

arrisonburg, VA – Applying wood mulches close to buildings carries risk of fire, but making rules to restrict the practice became a hot issue in this city, reports WHSV.com. After the city of Harrisonburg passed an ordinance stating that combustible mulch must be removed to at least 18 inches away from a building, the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill stating that a locality may not regulate the type of landscape material used by private property owners. The city council rewrote the ordinance to allow existing mulch to remain next to buildings, but any new mulch applications would have to be kept 18 inches away. Between 2008 and 2014, the Harrisonburg Fire Department was called to put out more than 200 fires that ignited in wood mulch next to buildings. According to the HFD, a typical mulch fire will burn the side of a building and then spread onto the roof area where there are no sprinklers or smoke alarms. Most of the reported mulch fires HFD responded to happened during the day, but the fire chief warned that a nighttime fire could cause loss of human lives.

Mulch Producer NEWS

Southhampton Mulcher Clears Site to Comply with Law

oyac, NY – Sand Land, a Southhampton sand mining and mulch producer continues to process brush and woody waste on its property while town and county administrators wrangle over legalities, according to a www.27east.com article. Southampton Town supervisors sought court approval to issue a temporary restraining order preventing Sand Land from accepting more waste material. The TRO was denied by a Suffolk County judge in May and a hearing on the matter was set for June 3 in Suffolk County Supreme Court. Sand Land has not been accepting additional material, but the business owner has asked the court for an extra six months to remove mulch and other materials still located at the mining site. Meanwhile, a group of Noyac citizens have been applying pressure on town officials to appeal the judge’s decision on the TRO even though a previous court decision preventing the mine from accepting “trees, brush, stumps, leaves and other clearing debris into topsoil or mulch” still stands. The earlier measure orders Sand Land to stop storing, selling or delivering mulch, topsoil and wood chips.

Buffalo Zoo Becomes Source of Exotic Compost

uffalo, NY – Starting in March, approximately a half-ton of manure is getting picked up from the Buffalo Zoo, loaded into a dump truck and delivered to a composting operation nearby, reports BuffaloNews.com. The zoo’s new partnership with East Buffalo Custom Composts will divert hundreds of tons of manure from the landfill every year and is expected to save the zoo a bundle of money in tipping fees and landscaping costs. Custom Compost picks up a mixture of cleanings from giraffe, elephant and other animal pens – manure plus alfalfa, straw and wood shavings. At the company’s composting site, this material gets combined with overripened fruits and vegetables sourced from a local produce hauler. The resulting compost is used for bioretention cells, rain gardens and other soil remediation projects designed to build soil and manage stormwater runoff. In fact, the compost has been – or will be – used in several other local green development initiatives to collect and process stormwater at the Central Terminal’s award-winning Urban Habitat Project, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the south campus of Erie Community College, and in landscaping outside small businesses.

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May / June 2016 Soil & Mulch Producer News 21

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Mulch Producer NEWS

California Compost Facility is Turning City and Country Waste into Rich Soil

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ings County, CA – Wood chips from Central Valley orchards and pre-treated sewer sludge from Los Angeles County are being turned into fertilizer at a large-scale composting facility in California, reports HanfordSentinel.com. Since January, a $100 million composting plant located south of Fresno has been accepting sludge from a number of Southern California cities. The plant mixes the sludge with agricultural waste and composts it, producing a soil amendment that has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as fertilizer for farm crops, garden plants and lawns. The 177-acre facility, which is owned and operated by the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, has been more than ten years in the making. Delays resulted due to a number of hurdles: NIMBY complaints during the approval process, pre-construction testing and planning to avoid leaching and other problems, and permitting. But after the facility got approval from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, the initial project phases were completed. Approved to process 20,000 tons of sludge a year, current capacity is well below the planned 500,000–ton processing plant that was originally on the boards. To prevent odors, the trucked-in waste is dumped in a huge, odorproofed building where it is mixed, then transported via a conveyor belt system to a paved composting area. The compost piles are covered with special tarps and aerated from below through a grid of pipes. The first load of finished fertilizer is expected to be ready for shipment starting July 1, but sanitation district administrators must find someone to take it. Originally, a large farm was to be the customer, but drought forced the owner to let a large portion of the 12,000-acre farm go fallow. Although the agreement still stands, Sanitation District officials say they must find more customers. At full capacity, the plant could process nearly all the sludge produced by the 78 Los Angeles County cities in the sanitation districts association. This does not include the city of Los Angeles itself, which is a separate entity.

Finger Lakes Mulch & Soil Products Expands

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www.heartland.org

22 Soil & Mulch Producer News

May / June 2016

anandaigua, NY – Finger Lakes Mulch & Soil Products LLC, an affiliate of Green Renewable Inc., recently began production at its new facility in Geneva, NY, according to reports on mpnnow.com and fingerlakes1.com. In January the company completed its acquisition of a division of Sensenig’s Landscape Supply, taking over management duties and manufacturing of mulch, soil and other organics derived from sustainable resources. In addition to continuing bulk sales, the company will be selling bagged mulch, composts and topsoils. Sensenig’s will maintain control of its stonework and landscaping divisions. Finger Lakes Mulch & Soil Products increased staff by eight employees and plans to add more general laborers and qualified equipment operators in the near future. “With Finger Lakes Mulch & Soil taking care of the mulch production, we look forward to concentrating our efforts on natural stone and concrete products,” said Carl Sensenig, owner, Sensenig’s Landscape Supply. “The only change our customers should expect to see is the name on their invoice for bulk mulch supplies.” GreenRenewable, Finger Lakes’ affiliate, manages wood material recovery and repurposing facilities in the Capital Region and Western New York. The company recently began production of bulk and bagged lawn and garden products at its 105-acre facility located in Manchester, NY, revitalizing a property which sat vacant for seven years.

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VOL. X NO. 3

6075 Hopkins Road • Mentor, OH 44060

PRSRT STD

Ph: 440-257-6453 • Fax: 440-257-6459 Email: downassoc2@oh.rr.com

Mentor, OH Permit No. 2

U.S. Postage

PAID

MAY /JUNE 2016

Inside This Issue Burning Issues Continue Over Wood As Energy Source PAGE 1

Lawsuits Are Piling Up Against EPA PAGE 6 Researchers Say Soil Offers Answers for Fighting Drought PAGE 8 Residents Force Sonoma County to Drop Compost Facility Plans PAGE 12 Wood as Biofuel for Power Plants: ‘Renewable Energy,’ says Senate Bill PAGE 14 Maine Moves Forward with $13.4 Million Taxpayer Bailout of Biomass PAGE 18 Governments Wrangle Over Mulch Ordinances PAGE 21