BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE – New Jersey is full of manure.
And when Jim Hye says that, he isn’t expressing a political opinion – he really means it.
At the April 2 meeting of the Millstone Agricultural Advisory Board (AAB), Hye presented a manure recycling plan that could benefit both himself and the township. He said he could either contract with the township to pick up manure in town for recycling or sell his recycling method to the township so it could create and run a manure facility of its own. Either way, the township would have to provide the site for the manure recycling.
Hye said his company, JMH Transfer, provides services for disposing horse manure in an environmentally friendly manner. His company picks up the waste material and recycles it into topsoil, which can be sold to private companies and government agencies, he said.
Hye said he has given his presentation to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the New Jersey Equine Advisory Board, among other groups. Since his composting design is proprietary, each member of the AAB had to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Mayor Nancy Grbelja said, “Since we are an environmentally sensitive community, we want to encourage people to do composting.”
Grbelja said putting manure out with the trash is prohibited. She said she wants to find a way for people with only a few horses to dispose of their manure. However, she said if Hye’s plan is cost-prohibitive for residents, the township would have to do something else about manure disposal.
Hye said pickup fees for 1 to 10 cubic yards of manure would amount to $15 per cubic yard, due to the cost of fuel. For 11-20 cubic yards, the cost would total $200, with each additional 20 cubic yards costing $200 to take away per truckload. In addition to manure, Hye’s firm also picks up grass and leaves from landscapers, he said.
Hye said his firm could handle 67,000 cubic yards of manure every quarter, which amounts to 3,500 truckloads. His company could also provide employment for specially challenged individuals in the area, he said.
The processing location would look like a farm with a water tank in the middle, he said. He alleged that he could sell processed soil at $400 per truckload, and that the township could make more than $5 million per year profit with the facility.
Hye said he would receive payment from the township as a consultant to start up the facility and train workers. He could then sell his composting method to the township, which already has most of the equipment it needs for the process, such as loaders and tractors, according to Hye.
According to Hye, his method does not leave standing piles of manure.
Hye, who is a pepper farmer, said that he knows his processing method works because when he used the processed soil on his own farm he got three cases of peppers from one pepper plant.
Grbelja said a manure recycling facility could service the needs of the immediate area, including Upper Freehold, Monroe, Manalapan and other nearby communities with equine populations. She pointed out that there are several large, local horse-training facilities in the area including Showplace Farm in Millstone, Gaitway Farm in Manalapan, and White Birch Farm in Upper Freehold.
Grbelja, a horse owner, said the AAB, the Township Committee, the Open Space Council and other township agencies are very committed to making sure the township does not lose its horse industry.
“Anything we can do to promote it, as well as the agricultural industry, is really a benefit to the town,” she said.
According to AAB member Pat Butch, new government regulations regarding animal waste management will soon come into effect. Butch, who owns Bright Meadows horse farm, said she is concerned about the new regulations.
“If you mandate farms to comply, there must be a way for them to do it,” she said. “If the state wants to keep agriculture viable, it must be cost-effective.”
Butch said the equine industry in Millstone is big and will be larger in the future because of the township’s 10-acre and cluster zoning. Butch said she likes that Hye’s plan could offset taxes, which could be a win-win situation.
Board member Chet Halka asked how much the mushroom farmers, who currently haul manure from larger facilities in the area, charge for hauling. Grbelja said they do not charge anything but will only take manure mixed with straw.
Hye said most horse owners do not use straw for bedding and that his method could also take manure mixed with straw or shavings but not wood chips, since they take too long to break down.
AAB Chairman Tony Romano said the board needs to do a lot of homework on the issue. Butch said the township engineer and financial advisers need to get involved to see about the feasibility of the proposal.