Construction begins at Dundee compost site

DUNDEE--The village of Dundee officially broke ground on the new composting facility located east of the current wastewater treatment plant on Dundee-Glenora Rd., Monday, Oct. 24. Contractors expect that cement work will be done by the end of November with the rest of the construction to follow.
"We hope to be online by the spring [of 2023]," said Dundee Mayor Fred Cratsley, Jr. "We expect to have the first batch of compost ready by the summer and anticipate doing one batch per month. We're a small facility."
Currently, the village of Dundee has used an approach called "land apply" to handle its solid waste. The village collected solid waste and distributed it to area farmers who would apply it to their fields, in particular land used to grow field (not sweet) corn. Dundee, according to Cratsley, was one of the last to use this method. Most, he said, have switched to composting.
The new composting facility will be 60 feet by 185 feet. Because it is an open facility, no sprinkler system is needed. Using this method, the village will collect and press solid waste, mix it with wood chips, and commence an aeration process that takes approximately 60 days. During the aeration process, the compost is "cooked down" to meet required standards.
"When it's done, we will give the compost to flower gardeners [for free]," said Cratsley, noting that the compost cannot be used for fields growing food.
The composting facility is part of a larger project that will upgrade the village's sewer plant. In total, the village has secured $11 million in grants to complete the entire project and will fund the rest with a loan offered at 0 percent financing. The village is preparing to go to bid for work on the rest of the multi-million-dollar project.