SoilPro

SoilPro Products Premium Compost is manufactured in southern California by Inland Empire Regional Composting Authority (IERCA) of the Inland Empire Utility Agency. It is a product sold as compost by companies such as Kellogg Garden Products but made from toxic sewage sludge.

About SoilPro
IERCA's sewage sludge compost, SoilPro, contains sewage sludge and wood and green waste. The sludge and plant waste are first mixed and then composted. Once they have broken down, they are screened and aged for a month. IERCA uses the Aerated Static Pile (ASP) method of composting. To do that, "air is forced through loosely piled organic feedstocks" throughout the entire composting process. "The IERCF uses the ASP method of composting by drawing air though the compost piles with fans and exhausting the foul air through a biofilter. The biofilter satisfies air regulations and controls odor emissions." The total composting process takes 60 days. IERCA produces 250,000 cubic yards (90,000 tons) per year of the finished product, which is marketed as "Class A Exceptional Quality Compost" and sold in bulk to landscapers, farmers, nurseries, and top soil blenders under the brand name SoilPro.

IERCA's facility receives 150,000 tons/year of sewage sludge (75,000 tons each from Los Angeles County Sanitation District and Inland Empire Utilities Agency. Additionally, they use 150,000 tons/ year of "Bulking Agents & Feedstocks (Manure, Green Waste, Etc.)."een waste.

Contact and Description
Jeff Ziegenbein is the Deputy Department Manager of Operations & Organics at the Inland Empire Utility Agency. He has been a Director of the U.S. Composting Council and is currently the Coordinator of the 2011 International Compost Awareness Week.
 * Jeff Ziegenbein
 * c/o Inland Empire Regional Compost Authority
 * 12645 Sixth Street
 * Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
 * Phone: (909) 993-1981
 * Web: http://www.ierca.org

Articles by Jeff Ziegenbein
Ziegenbein writes occasionally for BioCycle Magazine which promote growing food in sewage sludge, calling the sludge by the PR euphemism biosolids. He co-authored an extensive article on the Inland Empire Utility Agency with composting consultant and BioCycle contributing editor Rich Flammer. The article, "A MEGACOMPOSTING SUCCESS STORY," focused on the IEUA's success at creating SoilPro Products Premium Compost, a sewage sludge product sold to Kellogg Garden Products and other distributors and garden stores as "biosolids compost".

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Inland Empire Regional Composting Authority (IERCA)
 * Jeff Ziegenbein
 * Biosolids
 * Sewage sludge
 * Sewage sludge giveaways, producers, and brands
 * The EPA's plan to bypass opposition to sewage sludge disposal
 * Water Environment Federation
 * You say biosolids, I say sewage sludge

External articles
Multi-Purpose Soil Amendment & Media Component, IERCA Website accessed September 1, 2010.