Aberdeen approves animal carcass composting facility

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Aberdeen zoning officials have approved a facility designed to use compost animal carcasses for use as a crop fertilizer supplement.

Iowa-based Lynch Livestock wants to build the 40-foot-by-30-foot covered facility due to slow service by local animal rendering companies. Animal rendering plants convert carcasses into animal food protein and other products.

The company said in its application that building own composting facility would be “a better solution” for the company and the city. The company said its similar composting facility in Waucoma, Iowa, “has done much to address issues with smell and flies.”

The Aberdeen Board of Zoning Adjustment approved the project last week but required the company to also gain approval from the South Dakota Animal Industry Board, the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

State Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven said the company contacted the South Dakota Animal Industry Board on July 21 to begin the process.

Composting is an effective way of getting rid of a carcass after an animal dies, Oedekoven told the Aberdeen American News (http://bit.ly/2a8cd3j ).