Clearing the air

The Sheboygan office of Earth Tech Inc. is designing a biosolids facility that should purify the air in Nashville, Tenn. Image courtesy of Earth Tech Inc.

There was something in the Tennessee air, and it wasn’t good.

The stench of sludge from a nearby sewage-treatment plant was fouling the neighborhood as trucks hauled the waste to a landfill for burial. Something had to be done.

So staff in the Sheboygan office of Earth Tech Inc., based in Long Beach, Calif., set to work designing a new biosolids facility in Nashville, Tenn., for the Department of Water and Sewage Services of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. Earth Tech is serving as a subcontractor for Atlanta-based Archer-Western Contractors Ltd., a division of Walsh Group of Chicago.

Now, rather than burying the sludge in landfills, it will be brought to the facility and put through an extensive drying process. The end product will be a substance that makes a good fertilizer, said Leo Glueckstein, an Earth Tech vice president in Sheboygan.

“They are hoping to sell it for use on golf courses, nurseries and other similar applications,” he said.

The benefits of the $120 million project — $11.5 million of which goes toward Earth Tech’s work — are many.

“We’re converting it to a product that is usable,” Glueckstein said. “We are helping them reduce costs in trucking. We are helping them reduce costs in landfill tipping fees.”

And, of course, the facility will eliminate the odor problems inherent in trucking sewage sludge.

When finished, the plant will be able to process 80 tons of material a day. Biological elements will be used to “eat up” the smell-producing bacteria, significantly reducing odor.

Although the facility will be capable of running dryers — the technology that removes 95 percent of the water from the sludge — for five days a week, it’s unlikely it will be necessary to run them more than three days a week. That excess water will be pumped back to the treatment plant, Glueckstein said.

The project entered the construction stage and is on pace to wrap up one month before the May 1, 2008, completion date — welcome news for Nashville-area noses.

- Jennifer Pfaff

Faking it

Contest Winner Jacob Welti (left) and Weather Tight President Tod Colbert pose on the Les Faux French Accent contest stage. Photo by Liza Redlin

Parlez-vous Français?

No? Never mind that. Knowledge of the French language wasn’t essential to winning the Les Faux French Accent Contest at Milwaukee’s Bastille Days on July 15.

Anyone familiar with Pepe Le Pew or Inspector Clousseau had what it takes to compete.

Weather Tight Corp., Franklin, challenged festival revelers to speak in a French accent to raise money for Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity. And 20 people wowed the judges with their linguistic charms.

“We had some really funny costumes, really good accents,” said Matthew Mente, public relations executive for Weather Tight.

Even a few visitors from France stopped by, showing off a true accent. And some competitors couldn’t come close.

“A couple were a compilation of five different accents all in one,” Mente said.

Winner Jacob Welti of La Crosse had wit and Bastille Days pride. He didn’t dress in character but did wear his festival T-shirt.

The fun added up to a $500 donation by Weather Tight, which specializes in energy-efficient living solutions, to Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity.

Vive la France!

- Jennifer Pfaff