1906_INSP_20240110

FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section

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cUNIT TYPE:
Lined MSWLF LCID YW Transfer Compost X SLAS COUNTY: Chatham
Closed MSWLF HHW White goods Incin T&P FIRM PERMIT NO.: 19-06
CDLF Tire T&P / Collection Tire Monofill Industrial Landfill DEMO SDTF FILE TYPE: COMPLIANCE

Date of Site Inspection: January 10, 2024 Date of Last Inspection: December 20, 2022

FACILITY NAME AND ADDRESS:
McGill Environmental Systems of North Carolina, Inc. – Merry Oaks Large Type 4 SWC Facility 634 Christian Chapel Church Road New Hill, NC 27562

GPS COORDINATES: Lat.: 35.63591 Long.: -79.00802

FACILITY CONTACT NAME AND PHONE NUMBER:
McGill Environmental Systems of North Carolina, Inc. – Merry Oaks Facility Jack Jaynes, Site Manager w. 919-362-1161 c. 919-817-6655 f. 919-362-1141
[e-mail]
FACILITY CONTACT ADDRESS:
McGill Environmental Systems of North Carolina, Inc. – Merry Oaks Large Type 4 SWC Facility Jack Jaynes, Site Manager 634 Christian Chapel Church Road
New Hill, NC 27562

PARTICIPANTS: Chuck Kirchner, Environmental Senior Specialist – Solid Waste Section (SWS)
Misti Benchabbat, Compliance Manager - McGill Environmental Systems of North Carolina, Inc. Jack Jaynes, Site Manager - McGill Environmental Systems of North Carolina, Inc.

STATUS OF PERMIT:
Permit to Operate (PTO) issued December 9, 2020 PTO expiration date December 9, 2030 PURPOSE OF SITE VISIT: Comprehensive Inspection
STATUS OF PAST NOTED VIOLATIONS: None OBSERVED VIOLATIONS:
None
FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section

Page 2 of 4
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
On January 10, 2024, Chuck Kirchner met with Misti Benchabbat and Jack Jaynes to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the McGill Environmental Systems of North Carolina, Inc. – Merry Oaks Large Type 4 SWC Facility
on Christian Chapel Church Road in New Hill, Chatham County.
1. The facility is a Large Type 4 Solid Waste Compost (SWC) Facility. It produces compost from industrial and municipal residuals and sludges, grease trap waste, and food and agribusiness wastes and from a variety of bulking agents: wood ash, yard waste, wood mulch, tobacco waste, sawdust, etc. (see Operations Plan pg 13) and additional materials as approved by the Solid Waste Section (SWS). 2. Material is received from counties within North Carolina and from Virginia. 3. The facility is in operation Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and Saturday 8:00 am to noon. 4. The facility permit, site plan, and operations plan were discussed. 5. Compost is sold in bulk to landscape supply businesses, grading companies, and to the agribusiness community. 6. The facility building is ~ 112,500 ft2.
7. Composting is conducted within the facility building. Feedstocks are off-loaded into a pit at the south end of the building. High carbon bulking material, stored outside, is brought into the pit through a side door. The feedstocks and bulking materials are mixed. The mixed material is stockpiled within the pit area until
enough is available to fill an active compost bay. 8. The mixed material is placed in positive aeration bays to meet process to further reduce pathogens (PFRP). Each active compost bay is enclosed on three sides and has a reinforced polyethylene laminate tarp that remains in- place across the open portion of the bay. 9. When the material has met PFRP it is screened by a dedicated screener located within the building and placed in bays to meet vector attraction reduction (VAR). 10. Material removed from the active compost bays, that is awaiting VAR and has not been screened, is stockpiled in one of two bays in the building. The area also contains a dedicated screener and an additional VAR bay.
11. Approximately 50 percent of the material that has met VAR is returned to the active compost process (as a cover layer) and to the mixing and bulking pit (to include overs from the screening process) to aid in attaining PFRP.
12. Material is considered cured after meeting VAR. Cured product is screened by a dedicated screener. The screener and feed-hopper are located within the building at the north end. The screened material is
deposited outside of the building onto a concrete pad. 13. At certain times of the year material that has met VAR and has not been screened is stockpiled outside in operational areas until screened.
14. Screened compost is considered a finished product. Finished products are stockpiled outside and commonly sold at a dedicated storage area. 15. The facility currently has 14 individual Stage I active compost bays (Primary where PFRP’s are obtained) (Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6-11, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 20) and 5 Stage II curing bays (VAR is obtained from Stage II bays) (constituting what would be bay Nos. 18, 21, 22, 23, and 25) 16. Once the mulch VAR is obtained from Stage II bays the mulch will be screened again. The large material removed by the screener is put back into the compost process and the fines are the finished product. 17. Each bay has a positive aeration fan. Fans observed this inspection appeared to be functioning properly. 18. An active compost bay is constructed with a layer of wood chip, seven feet of mixed material to be composted, and one foot of material that has met VAR along the front of the pile, facing the open end of the bay.
The item(s) listed above were observed by Section staff and require action on behalf of the facility in order to come into or maintain compliance with the Statutes, Rules, and/or other regulatory requirements applicable to this facility. Be advised that pursuant to N.C.G.S. 130A-22, an administrative penalty of up to $15,000 per day may be assessed for each violation of the Solid Waste Laws, Regulations, Conditions of a Permit, or Order under Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the N.C. General Statutes. Further, the facility and/or all responsible parties may also be subject to enforcement actions including penalties, injunction from operation of a solid waste management facility or a solid waste collection service and any such further relief as may be necessary to achieve compliance with the North Carolina Solid Waste Management Act and Rules.
FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section

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19. A front-end loader combines materials in the mixing and bulking pit and transfers it to the active compost bays.
When material has met PFRP, a second front end loader transfers it to be screened and places it in curing bays to meet VAR. When material has met VAR, a third front end loader transfers it to be screened and manages the compost on site.
20. Each front-end loader is dedicated to a prescribed operation and if secondary use is required the front-end loader’s bucket will be decontaminated. 21. The mixing and bulking pit and the active compost bays exhaust fans route to a biofilter [unit] located outside, adjacent to the building. 22. The three biofilters consist of a layer of wood chip, perforated pipe, a layer of compost, and a second layer
of wood chip. 23. Biofilter 3 is currently in the process of being replaced according to Mr. Jaynes. 24. Active compost bay groups Nos.: 1, 3 and 5, Nos.: 7 and 9, Nos.: 11 and 13, and Nos.: 15, 17, and 19 each
exhausts through a manifold to one of four biofilters and the mixing and bulking pit exhausts to a dedicated biofilter. The VAR bays do not exhaust to a biofilter. 25. There is a total of 19 fans serving the compost process: 14 positive aeration and 5 negative aeration (mixing
and bulking pit, PFRP, and VAR).
26. The facility has three positive aeration fans serving the material that has met PFRP screening process (prior to VAR) and the adjacent open area. The open area constitutes what would be the even numbered bays.
27. Mr. Jaynes stated that the PVC piping used for aeration are being replaced with HDPE piping which lasts
longer during the composing process.
28. Bulking material, consisting of leaves, LCD, pallets and clean wood, is stored outside behind the building. Clean wood and yard waste is ground ~ every 8 weeks. A portable grinder was on site from KB Hauling to grind the material during this inspection. There is approximately 13,300 cubic yards of bulking material on site estimated from aerial imagery.
29. No engineered wood observed on site during this inspection. 30. Stockpiling of high carbon ratio feedstocks and finished product shall be limited to 50’ in width x 30’ in height.
A 25’ access road should be kept around all sides of the windrows for fire access. 31. Sludge is off-loaded directly into the mixing and bulking pit. 32. Ms. Benchabbat stated that rejected loads are turned around at the scale house and not received on site. 33. The facility 120,000-gallon sludge aboveground storage tank (AST) has been decommissioned and emptied of any liquids. The tank is still waiting to be disassembled and any remaining sediment/sludge remaining at the bottom of the tank will be re-incorporated into the compost mix. 34. The facility maintains throughput records. The amount and type of material received from July 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 is 42,610 tons of feedstocks and bulking materials. The amount of compost sold during that period is 34,759 yd3. 35. The amount of finished compost on site is approximately 4,000 yd3 according to Mr. Jaynes. 36. The facility annual report (FAR) was received by the SWS dated July 19, 2023. Facility material received for July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 is 97,286.67 tons of which 3,020.54 tons were from out of state. The amount of compost produced and sold to the public is 36,516.23 tons. The amount given away is 3,575.46 tons. 37. Compost bay temperature records for PFRP and VAR were observed. Electronic copies of this data are acceptable for review purposes. Data was available for each compost load in each bay for both Stage I and Stage II of the composting process and PFRP and VAR data was available for all compost loads observed
during this inspection. 38. Temperature probe calibration records were observed. Last thermometer calibration performed on December 7, 2023.
39. The facility has a misting odor control system that will be activated if there is significant odor and if other control methods have been unsuccessful. 40. The facility maintains an odor management log. No additional complaints have been received since
October 7, 2017.
41. During the inspection, there was no odor detected at the facility boundary.

FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section

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42. McGill maintains dedicated loaders for mixing to prevent cross contamination of the compost product.
43. The facility had total metals, pathogens, total nitrogen, and manmade inerts analysis conducted by A&L Great Lakes Laboratories, Inc. in Fort Wayne, IN. An analysis is required once every six months or every
20,000 tons of product, whichever comes first. McGill sends off samples once per month to test the quality of their product. Records were observed for November 1, 2022 through December 6, 2023. No exceedances were noted. 44. The facility has a 20,000-gallon water tank available for yard maintenance and fire prevention. 45. Repairs have been completed from the area damaged by a lightning strike on June 12, 2022. 46. Twice a day the facility applies ACF 32 odor treatment directly to the mixing and bulking pit using the water tank trailer. 47. The facility has a stormwater discharge National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit NCG240000, Certificate of Coverage NCG240005, effective: 11/01/19. NPDES permit
shall remain in effect for the duration of the General Permit. 48. The following employees have attended the Compost Research and Education Foundation Course:
• David Annas, 40-HR Compost Operations Training Course, Date September 12-16, 2022 • Jack Jayness, 40-HR Compost Operations Training Course, Date September 12-16, 2022 49. Annual training for facility staff, including a review of the operations plan and permit documents was conducted on February 16, 2023. 50. The facility has three stormwater retention ponds.
51. The facility is required to prevent the accumulation of stormwater on storage areas, processing areas, and access roads. No accumulation of stormwater was observed during this inspection. 52. There was no indication of erosion or runoff.
53. This permit requires three conditions from Chatham County. 1.) Lights must be shielded on top and sides to prevent spillage onto adjacent properties and into the night sky. 2.) Noise levels at the property line must not exceed acceptable levels as required in the Chatham County Noise Ordinance. 3.) A minimum 100-foot-wide
undisturbed vegetative buffer shall be maintained along the state right-of-way except for driveway entrances. All Chatham County conditions included in this permit were observed in compliance during this inspection.
54. Construction on the neighboring property will use some of McGill’s property as a staging area. The staging area will not be near the facility boundary and will not affect the minimum 100’ buffer according to Ms. Benchabbat.
55. Leachate from the compost process shall remain in the building. 56. The Moncure Fire Department can be contacted to address an emergency at the facility. 57. Fire extinguishers were last inspected by United Fire and Safety Equipment in October of 2023.
58. Fires must be reported to the regional environmental senior specialist within 24 hours of the occurrence, followed by a written report of the details of the fire within 15 days of the occurrence. 59. Access roads are of all-weather construction.
60. The facility is secured by a locked gate. 61. The facility has proper signage. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding this inspection report. ________________________________________ Phone: [phone] _ Chuck Kirchner
Environmental Senior Specialist Regional Representative
Sent on: January 17, 2024 X Email Hand delivery US Mail Certified No. [ _]

Copies: Deb Aja, Western District Supervisor - Solid Waste Section