City wants to turn poop to fertilizer

Cincinnati wants to use the tons of human waste its residents produce every day to fertilize farms.

City officials pitched the $65 million idea Friday after concluding it was the best and cheapest option for replacing the Little Miami waste incinerator, which no longer meets federal environmental standards.

The city's other choices are fixing the existing incinerator, hauling the waste to another incinerator or building a new one. Mayor John Cranley said the latest study by the Metropolitan Sewer District found that all of those options are more costly and less environmentally friendly than building a new facility that converts the waste to fertilizer.

"We need a technology that not only helps our communities, but benefits the environment and saves money for our residents," Cranley said.

The city's proposal is far from a done deal, however. It still requires the approval of officials in Hamilton County and federal regulators. The city, which operates the sewer district, and the county, which owns it, have butted heads for several years over spending and operations.

County Administrator Christian Sigman said he can't say whether the city's plan is a good idea because he hasn't seen it.

"It's hard to provide any kind of financial, environmental or policy analysis without a proposal," Sigman said.

Costs are one issue the city and county will have to hammer out. The city's estimates are based on "life-cycle costs," which measure the costs of design, construction, operation and maintenance over 25 years, rather than just the initial construction costs.

MSD officials told county commissioners in October it would cost about $21 million to overhaul the existing incinerator, but they say the latest study raises that estimate to about $39 million. It also estimates the life-cycle cost of a refurbished incinerator at $127 million, almost double the life-cycle cost of building the $65 million conversion facility.

The city also must sell the idea to residents, who will get a chance to speak their minds at community meetings before the project goes forward. Converting poop to fertilizer smells about as bad as one might expect, but city officials say the plant will be enclosed and will have good odor controls.

The idea of converting human waste to fertilizer has been around for years, but the cost of treating it and the technology to do it well is only now making it economical on a large scale. The waste must be treated to remove bacteria, parasites and other contaminants before it can be used on farms.

Sewer district officials say treating the waste would produce methane gas that could be used to generate electricity to power the plant.

"Being able to reuse this material, as opposed to land-filling or incinerating it makes good environmental, social and economic sense," said Gerald Checco, MSD's director.