LOCATION
The 80-acre composting facility is located 23 miles west of the City of Barstow, approximately 8 miles west of Hinkley, and approximately 12.3 miles east of Kramer Junction. The site is approximately one mile south of State Route 58 and one mile west of Helendale Road. The Project would be located on land owned by Nursery Products, LLC, near the abandoned Hawes Airport. Current elevations on the property range from about 2310 to 2330 feet above mean sea level.

OBJECTIVES
The main goal of the Project is to provide local, cost-efficient biosolids and green material composting capacity for the County and the Inland Empire that complies with applicable Federal, State and local requirements for safely handling these materials to generate Class A compost. The Project has the following objectives:

• To establish an efficient reuse of biosolids in the County and the Inland Empire
• To increase solid waste diversion through the recycling of green material in compost
• To conduct the composting operation in a cost-effective manner
• To produce and provide local and regional agricultural and nursery customers with high-quality composted products, especially in the Inland Empire.

DESIGN AND OPERATION
The Project is expected to receive an average daily total of 1,100 wet tons of biosolids and green material (approximately 400,000 wet tons per year (tpy). The maximum quantity that the Project would receive on any given day would be 2,000 wet tons. Clean soil or other inert materials (i.e. sand, gypsum, sawdust) will be used as a bulking agent or amendment as needed and will not exceed 200 tons per day. The Project would produce a maximum annual volume of 400,000 cubic yards of compost. Once the composting process is complete, the end product is the finished compost, dark in color with an earthy smell.

DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

STORM WATER RETENTION PONDS
There are two storm water retention ponds that are artificial ponds designed to capture storm water from the 100-year, 24-hour storm event over the entire facility and the 1,000-year, 24-hour storm event that falls directly on the surface impoundments. There is a 1,000-year berm with multiple inlets around the perimeter of both retention ponds.  The liner system approved by the Regional Water Quality Control Board for the surface impoundments is a single composite liner system. This liner system includes (from bottom to top, in order of construction):

• 6 inches of prepared compacted native subgrade soil which is moisture conditioned and compacted to 90 percent of the maximum dry density per ASTM Standard D1557
• Leak detection monitoring sump under each retention pond that consists of a composite liner of geosynthetic clay (GCL) and 60-mil High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) surrounding a gravel drainage layer
• A clay liner and 60-mil HDPE plastic liner

LEAK DETECTION MONITORING SUMPS
The storm water retention ponds will include lined sumps immediately below the retention ponds.  The leak detection monitoring sumps add another level of safety to the engineering design.  The sumps will be constantly monitored. 

LYSIMETERS
There is a lysimeter located 10 feet beneath each retention pond that will detect and capture any leak from the retention ponds.  The retention ponds aren’t expected to ever leak, however the Regional Water Quality Control Board requires a lysimeter for all retention ponds. The lysimeter will consist of 60-mil HDPE plastic and an access port that will be installed to monitor the lysimeter below the retention pond.

COMPOST PAD LINER
Computer modeling indicated that material from the compost facility would NEVER be able to travel down to the groundwater.  However, as an additional safety precaution the entire compost pad will have a liner that consists of a minimum of 12 inches of engineered fill consisting of native subgrade compacted to 90 percent relative compaction.  Varying sizes of berms with side slopes of 2:1 (horizontal:vertical) are located around the perimeter of the facility to prevent storm water run on and run off  to and from the facility, respectively. All storm water falling within the facility will be contained and directed to the retention ponds.  The facility will contain the volume of water from a 1,000-year, 24-hour storm event. There will be constant monitoring and sampling beneath the composting pad.  Ten soil samples from within the native engineered fill of the compost pad will be collected at six-inch intervals to depth of 1.5 feet beneath the waste pile.  Following sample collection, the void space will be backfilled with clay and compacted.  The samples will be tested in a laboratory and reviewed by the Regional Water Quality Control Board .  The analysis must meet stringent background requirements to demonstrate the compost pad is working properly.

GROUNDWATER MONITORING & SAMPLING
Another level of safety is provided by installing groundwater monitoring wells.  Three groundwater monitoring wells will be installed to monitor groundwater which is 366 feet below the ground surface.  One well will be up gradient and two wells will be down gradient of the facility.  Following installation of the monitoring wells, these wells will be sampled quarterly to monitor water quality.  Each well will be monitored for over $2,000 in analytical testing each quarter.  The results of the groundwater monitoring will be reviewed by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. 

BERMS/FENCING

• Berms are located around the perimeter of the facility to prevent storm water runoff from the facility.  These berms were engineered to contain the volume of water from a 1,000-year, 24-hour storm event.  Most facilities operating in California are designed to contain water from the 25-year, 24-hour storm event.
• A 6-foot fence will be located around the perimeter of the facility for security.
• In addition to the 6-foot security fence, a desert tortoise fence will be located around the perimeter of the facility.  Although no desert tortoises were ever found on the facility the fence will be installed as a precaution.

GEOLOGY