MARION COUNTY, Fla.,None — The number one waste problem in Marion County comes from the back-end of horses. It's such a big problem that the county has been trying to come up with ways of getting rid of it.
Some of that waste is now being turned into fuel that can power generators to light up houses, along with a process that converts horse manure into two types of fertilizer that does not stink.
There are 900 horse farms in Marion County and every year the animals leave behind up to 600,000 tons of manure and soiled bedding.
"Well, yeah. When you get rid of that pile, you have it all hauled off and cleaned up and then you look behind the barn and that pile is growing up again. What goes in keeps coming out," horse breeder Dori Morgan said.
Morgan owns 60 horses and it costs her $1,000 per month to have the manure hauled off, but state officials may have found another way to take care of the mess.
"I''m an ‘AG' guy. I'll be the first to tell you, I've known the potential of AG. I've always known it can be bigger than it is," Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said.
Bronson opened a new mini waste-to-energy plant in Ocala. Manure goes into bio-reactors and is converted into methane gas that can run generators. The only by-products are two types of fertilizer that creators say does not smell and won't hurt you.
"I can accidentally pour it on me," project leader Dr. Jose Sifontes said.
"Make your hair grow?" WFTV reporter Berndt Petersen asked.
"Maybe, ha, ha!" Sifontes replied.
If there is a downside, it's the cost: $1 million to build the tiny facility. But state and county leaders now know it works.
Dori Morgan would like to see them build a giant plant for the entire county's horse waste.
"Solve the problem? I don't know. But it definitely can help it," Morgan said.
Half the million dollars for that plant came from a state fuel grant and the other half from the company that created the technology.
WFTV
