ECUA: Second round of testing shows compost did not contain salmonella bacteria

Pensacola News Journal

Donald Palmer, director of water reclamation for the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, looks over organization's new compost product near the end of the manufacturing process. Under a new program, ECUA will combine yard waste materials with organic compounds from the water treatment facility to create the new compost product.

UPDATE 9:06 a.m.

One day after Emerald Coast Utilities Authority said compost it has distributed to customers tested positive, the company further testing indicates the test results were wrong.

“It was a false positive,” said ECUA spokeswoman Nathalie Bowers.

Bowers said the company will continue to work with state environmental and health to investigate the incident. She said ECUA was also notifying customers about the latest test results.

ORIGINAL STORY

Compost distributed by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority has tested positive for higher-than-normal levels of the salmonella bacteria, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said Wednesday.

Brandy Smith, a spokesman for the state environmental agency, said the utility had notified the Florida Department of Health, contacted customers who received the compost and was retesting to confirm the results.

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"The facility had previously taken periodic samples for salmonella from the same compost pile and salmonella was not previously detected," Smith said in a statement released late Wednesday. "However, the most recent monthly sample collected and analyzed came back with elevated levels of salmonella."

Smith said her agency's investigation into the incident was ongoing.

Nathalie Bowers, a spokeswoman for the utility, said the compost had been distributed to about 160 customers in quantities ranging from "a couple of 40-pound bags to large, bulk amounts."

Bowers said the utility contacted customers who received the compost and informed them of the test results. They also offered to remove any compost that had been delivered. Some customers, but not all, took ECUA up on the offer.

"We have been in contact with our experts in the field who helped us set up the (composting) facility and they are baffled. They think this could be a false positive result or a lab error. We just got off the phone with them and they have never seen this kind of thing," said Bowers, who added that results of a second round of tests should be in before Friday.

Bowers said experts told the utility that any salmonella pathogens should dissipate within a couple of days and the bacteria could only be transmitted if ingested and not through the skin or air.

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"We have provided all of our customers with information as well as contacts for the health department," she said.

Marie Mott, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health in Escambia County, said the risk to the general public of contacting salmonella from the compost is very low.

"Individuals coming into contact with the contaminated material are at some risk for salmonellosis, an illness which may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain," she said in a prepared statement.

Mott said anyone handling compost should wash their hands frequently. Anyone showing symptoms of salmonellosis should seek medical care, she said.

The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority has begun composting operations at the Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment. Under the new program, ECUA will combine yard waste materials with organic compounds from the water treatment facility to create the new compost product.

"If the contaminated material has been applied to your property, keep pets and children away from the affected area; continue to use frequent hand washing as preventive measure," she said.

ECUA began distributing its Class AA compost for use by the general public in 2016. Bowers said the classification means that it's the highest quality compost produced by the utility and can be used in an unrestricted way.

The compost contains yard clippings, a nutrient-rich additive and biosolids — organic matter recycled from sewage.

In a 2016 Pensacola News Journal article, ECUA spokesman Jim Roberts explained the process used to make the compost, which starts with customers placing yard waste in 30-gallon, brown paper recyclable bags.

The waste then goes through a modified static aerobic pile process, which includes grinding the materials to let heat flow through the waste pile as an organic compound from the ECUA treatment facility is added. The mixture is then put into a large churning machine before a mixture of bacteria and enzymes is added to the top of the pile, along with a capping layer of 12 inches of wood waste.

The pile next sits for 30 days before it is turned and left for another 15 days before being sent to a screening and curing facility where the bacteria and microorganisms are cooked off at temperatures of up to 150 degrees.