There is much evidence that over the past 50 years human beings have caused more harm to our environment, than in all of history prior to that time. Much of that harm is in the form of soil, water and air pollution.

We have buried in the ground millions of tons of materials that we have considered waste; often with little consideration for, or knowledge of what the long term consequences would be. Burying was widely believed to be a reasonable method of ‘disposal’.

Now, after the fact, we are discovering that we have contaminated our soil and ground water in many of those areas surrounding where materials were buried. 

Composting has repeatedly proven to be a very cost effective method of bio-remediation, for decontaminating soil; the microbes in the composting process effectively breaking down contaminants into harmless products. This system is being used at a number of retired military bases with millions of dollars of savings, compared to other alternatives.

Composting Research Silos developed by Mother Nature's Farms, Inc.  have demonstrated themselves to be a very practical, cost effective, way to test variations in composting methodology.  The silos are set up with forced aeration and computerized temperature monitoring.  The aeration system is often set up to provide for bio-filtering of the off-gas from the most active research silos.

We have much to learn about the beneficial functions of the many forms of microbes. Bacteria are so tiny that it would take about 25,000, shoulder to shoulder, to span a single inch. Dr. Elaine Ingham, formerly associated with Oregon State University, has determined that a teaspoonful of healthy soil can have over 600 million bacteria in it, which are responsible for nutrient cycling and natural suppression of many plant diseases.

While many people want to understand how things work, and expanding our knowledge is good, we can test for end results in processes, without needing to understand all the details of what is happening. This is particularly true in composting and the related microbiology.   Compost research silos can be used to see if we can break down soil contaminants to harmless byproducts. 

There seems to be a lot of misinformation and lack of understanding in the field of composting, particularly in the area of the microbiology and the oxygen needs of the microbes.    IF our goal is to transform a feedstock from waste to a valuable end product, and also, at the same time, add a percentage of contaminated soil, with hopes that the microbes in the compost will break down the contaminants into harmless byproducts, doesn’t it make sense that the broader the array of microbial species, the better the chances of breaking down the contaminants? Does it make sense that the broader the array of feedstocks, the more likely there will be a broader microbial species diversification .  

While the most popular composting feedstocks may be yard waste, leaves, chipped wood, and grass, those feedstocks seem to have far less biological potential than the organic residuals that come out the back doors of restaurants. The literature suggests that aerobic bacteria and fungi are the most effective decomposers. In fact, all fungi are strict aerobes, that is, they MUST have oxygen. Few people seem to appreciate the oxygen realities of composting. The best way to determine whether compost is aerobic is to do cross section profile monitoring of the oxygen level, using an oxygen meter.

An indicator of the amount of microbial activity in compost is the amount of heat being given off. We have had compost in our research silos generate temperatures as high as 176°F, with forced aeration holding the oxygen level > 20%. At that time the aeration system on the research silos was not able to provide enough cooling to hold the temperature below 160°F. The point is, that food residuals can apparently yield massive Surplus Microbial Metabolic Heat, suggesting very large populations of microbes. Ideally there should be an on site lab capable of doing the microbial assays to do direct estimates of active and total bacteria and fungi. The assaying procedure is fairly simple. A Leica DM LB microscope for brightfield differential interference contrast and fluorescence observation, with 1000X magnification is needed to do the bacterial assays.

John A. Crockett, Sr., a.k.a. Dr. Mike Robe
Mother Nature's Farms, Inc.
Carmel, New York
U.S.A.
(845) 225-7763

This page was last updated: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 06:19 PM