2015 fall conference: avian influenza-idnr

2015 HPAI Outbreak In Iowa- Solid Waste Perspective

Poultry In Iowa

Iowa is Ranked: #1 in Chicken Layers #1 in Pullets #8 in Turkeys #1 in Egg Production In March 2015 • 59.5 million egg layer chickens • 16% of national stocks • 11 million turkeys

Avian Influenza Impact on the Poultry Industry- Iowa

77 Poultry Sites Infected Layers • 24.7 million egg layer chickens euthanized • 41.5% of Iowa’s stock • 22 laying facilities

Turkeys • 1.1 million turkeys euthanized • 10% of Iowa’s stock • 35 farm sites

18 Iowa Counties with Impacted Facilities 34 million birds impacted

Avian Influenza Impact to the Poultry Industry- Nationally

• Since December 2014, HPAI detected in commercial and backyard poultry flocks, wild birds, or captive wild birds in 21 States

• 211 commercial and 21 backyard poultry premises • Depopulation of 7.5 million turkeys and 42.1 million egg-layer

and pullet chickens • Cost to Federal taxpayers of over $950 million

Local, state, and federal government response, coordination, responsibilities

Agency Roles During the Avian Flu Outbreak

Federal: USDA APHIS

State: IDALS

IDNR IDOT HSEMD IDPH

Coordination Amongst the Agencies

USDA establishes Incident Management Teams Primary interface between Federal, State, and local partners On-scene support and response capability IMTs rotate out. Necessary, but creates challenges for state

Coordination between DNR and IDALS allowed face-to-face meetings (located in same office building) Coordination with USDA

IMT Teams Green, Gold, Blue, Red

Conference calls

April 15th – Sept. 15th 1,165 emails (total)

302 (sent by me)

Email

Coordination Amongst the Agencies cont…

At the SEOC, HSEMD and other government partners coordinate state response and recovery efforts DNR stations a person at the SEOC at all times Provides a single point of contact to route requests through Responses come back quicker Information that we receive is more current

State Emergency Operations Center (Johnston, IA)

Initial Response

USDA, IDALS and DNR spent a considerable amount of on the first HPAI positive farm

3.8 million to depopulate Disposal option was left up to producer to decide

Depopulation was slow to get started with producer/USDA negotiations

It was almost a month before birds really started coming out of the barns

Initial Response cont…

In the meantime, more farms became HPAI positive

Quickest way to get birds out of cages was to pull them out and put them in bio-zip liners inside roll-off containers

Limited options for disposal once birds were in the bio-zip liners

This put more pressure on finding landfills for disposal

USDA-APHIS Changes for Future Response

Depopulate much faster 24-hours or less

In almost all cases, water based foam or carbon dioxide will be the depopulation

methods available to rapidly “stamp-out” the HPAI virus

However, if standard methods cannot achieve the 24-hour goal, the APHIS National Incident Coordinator will approve—on a case-by-case basis—the use of ventilation shutdown for depopulation

Considered by some to be less humane but it can spare the lives of potentially thousands of other birds by halting the infection as soon as it is detected

IDALS Changes for Future Response

IDALS to form a rapid or early response team that would visit with a site owner as soon as indications are they are infected

SEOC would be opened as soon as a neighboring state (or possibly the Mississippi and/or Central flyways) is positive instead of waiting for first case in Iowa

Goal is to ramp up quicker, depopulate within 24 hrs, and dispose of the carcasses on-site and within 48 hrs

IDALS would consider using their quarantine authority to restrict carcasses from moving off-site

Exception would be if a facility doesn’t have the space to dispose of carcasses on-site

DNR’s Response to Avian Influenza Outbreak

Iowa DNR’s Foreign Animal Disease Plan was Developed in 2003 Laid out DNR’s role in an outbreak- disposal oversight Disposal Options -Composting - On-site Burial - Incineration - Landfilling - Rendering

Options Used Nationally

211 commercial premises • MN-109 – 108 composting, 1 burial • IA-71 - composting, burial, landfill, and incineration • SD-10 - Burial • WI-9 – composting • NE-5 - composting • CA-2 - composting • MO-2 - composting • ND-2 - composting • AR-1 - burial • 211 commercial premises • • MN-109 – 108 composting, 1 burial

Disposal Options- Composting

• Benefits of Composting – Can kill pathogens and help control disease outbreaks – Can be done any time of year, even when the ground is frozen – Can be done with equipment on most farms – Relatively odor-free. – All sizes and volumes of animals can be composted. – Egg waste and hatching waste can be composted. – Relatively low requirements for labor and management.



• 18 inch coarse wood chips

• 12-15 inch layer carcasses

• 12-15 inch layer wood chips or other carbon source

• Another layer of birds until two or three layers high

• Cover with 2-foot layer of wood chops or other carbon source

• Reaches thermophilic temps in 10-14 days (no turning or active aeration) Temps range from 131-150

• Compost then moved outside for curing

• Let sit for 4-6 months

Disposal Options- On-site Burial

• Not all sites had the available space • Burial zone maps developed as part of foreign animal disease plan • Materials other than carcasses were not allowed to be buried

Disposal Options- On-site Burial

Disposal Options- Incineration

Disposal Options- Incineration

Tarmac Thermal Unit • Designed to treat contaminated soil • Had never been used for carcass disposal • One unit placed at the Cherokee County Sanitary Landfill • Emissions control equipment: baghouse and afterburner • Propane fired burning at 600-800 F • Reached a peak production of 225,000 birds/day, when running 24 hours or

about 32 rolloffs • 337 ton per day capacity while each layer facility was generating 120-200 tons

of waste per day • Many issues with setup and continuous breakdowns

Air Curtain Incinerators • Two roll offs per day- 14,000 birds • Also used for incineration of wood pallets and cardboard egg cartons

Were not allowed to incinerate roll off liners, biobags, PPE or trash

Disposal Options- Landfilling

• Hesitation from solid waste agencies • Timing • Indemnity • Contracting with USDA • Logistics with Clean Harbors • Movement permits • Contracting with USDA

Landfills In Iowa


• Iowa DNR Solid Waste Section regulates special wastes via the issuance of special waste authorizations

• Worked with USDA , Iowa Department of Agriculture and Iowa Department of Transportation

• USDA • Bio-security

• Iowa Department of Agriculture • Transportation permits • Biosecurity

• Iowa Department of Transportation • Route determination to issue transportation permits


• Special Waste Acceptance Criteria Details • Focused on bio-security • Carcasses loaded in bio-zip bags into plastic lined covered roll-offs

Many had been sitting on farm sites for weeks • Vehicles washed leaving the farm and leaving the landfill • Identify area of landfill higher in the waste mass • Wild bird control measures • PPE • Excavate a trench in existing waste (lined with absorbent material for those

loads that were not solid) • Trenches covered daily or more frequently if necessary to control vectors,

odors and scavenging

Contact Information

Amie Davidson, P.E. Solid Waste Section Supervisor

Iowa Department of Natural Resources 515-725-8307

[email protected]

2015 fall conference: avian influenza-idnr

Government & Nonprofit