FERTILE GROUND
City offers compost to gardeners

City utility workers Shawn Osborne, left, and Rob Bavaro, right, unload fertilizer the city received from the compost delivered and processed through a contract with the Angelina Neches River Authority. -- Bullard Banner photo by Kelly Griffith-Fields

About 1 1/2 years after the Bullard city crew obtained a dewatering box for its wastewater treatment, the city is donating back some of the proceeds of it - in the form of fertilizer.

While the crews have been turning over its sludge to the Angelina Neches River Authority for years now, this is the first time Bullard residents have been able to see what the state organization does with the sludge.

"We've been turning it over to them for about two years now," said Bullard Utility Director Mark Barker. "And we wanted the citizens too benefit if they so choose."

Barker said ANRA processes the sludge into a high-grade fertilizer - which is great for those about to begin their flowerbeds and gardens.

And the cost is unbeatable. "We've got a few pallets that we'll just give away to any small gardener," Barker said. "But it's strictly on a first come, first served basis.

ANRA calls the program soil therapy, and according to the organization the benefits are many.

"It is the practice of using soil therapy compost soil amendments and conditioners to revive and rebuild soil in which to grow beautiful flowers, lush lawns, luxuriant shrubs, and healthy vegetables," said director Kenneth Reneau. "It is specially blended bio-solid compost that has been cured to meet the highest quality standards."

Reneau said STC has been through a series of processes at the Jacksonville plant, including a naturally occurring treatment process for pathogen reduction, a screening process to meet size requirements, and a curing process to further ensure a high quality stable compost.

STC products supply a wide variety of vital nutrients in a slow release formula. Their products also contain beneficial microbes that perform numerous functions in the root structure of plants and within the soil itself. In addition, STC significantly increases the organic content in any soil structure, acting as a soil amendment or conditioner.

STC is a mixture of treated bio-solids and wood material such as wood chips, limbs and yard trimmings.

STC bio-solids come from the wastewater treatment processes of a coalition of member cities - like Bullard -- with a strong desire to protect the environment.

Wood materials needed for the compost process are collected throughout a threecounty area from a number of sources.

The combination of wastewater bio-solids and wood waste materials creates STC, an organic product that completes the recycling process.

STC is produced at its Neches Compost Facility, located in Jacksonville.

The Neches Compost Facility was created as a result of a need for alternative methods of disposal for biosolids.

The Neches Compost Facility was built in 1998, with a significant expansion completed in 2004.

ANRA is a government agency created by the state legislature under the state constitution.

It is recognized as an independent governmental agency authorized to construct, maintain, and operate any and all works necessary for the purpose of controlling, storing, and preserving water resources in the 17 county jurisdiction in the Neches River Basin.

It is governed by a nine member board of directors appointed by the governor to six-year terms.

The major functions of the authority are water quality management, water resource development, and conservation of water resources.

The authority administers several water quality related environmental programs including the Upper Neches basin surface water quality monitoring programs, permit compliance monitoring programs, industrial pre-treatment program, and a water/wastewater sample collection and testing program.

For more information on obtaining the fertilizer, call Bullard City Hall at 903-894- 7223.
For more information:
Call City Hall:
903-894-7223