Nutrients PLUS, LLC, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia announces an agreement with NEFCO (New England Fertilizer Company), a recognized leader nationally in biosolids management, to purchase the Cumberland, Maryland Biosolid Processing Facility’s Exceptional Quality (EQ) Biosolids product to use in the company’s fertilizers with natural ingredients. The agreement with NEFCO makes Nutrient PLUS the exclusive distributor and further expands Nutrient PLUS’s ability to lead the industry in developing new sources for formulating, producing, marketing and sales of fertilizers with organic matter.
The biosolids product distributed from the Cumberland facility will meet all Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) permit requirements, and all Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) registration requirements. Some production of Nutrient PLUS’s fertilizers is anticipated to begin in September. Nutrients PLUS expects to purchase the entire output of pelletized biosolids produced at the Cumberland, Maryland facility which NEFCO designed and built and will operate for the City of Cumberland under a long–term contract.
“As an innovator in biosolids management, NEFCO is pleased to partner with Nutrients PLUS to harness renewable resources from the City of Cumberland to produce a valuable fertilizer,” said Virginia M. Grace Manager, Business Development, NEFCO. “ "We are delighted to work with Nutrients Plus to provide the City with this exciting biosolids management solution."
The “NP Pathway to Solutions”, a research-based system developed by Nutrients PLUS, is unique in that the company has a neutral perspective for its sourcing of natural-organic fertilizer materials, meaning it tests and evaluates organic ingredients from a variety of sources to arrive at proprietary product formulations. Cumberland’s EQ Biosolids is such a source meeting the system’s criteria.
“In addition to meeting customer demand, this agreement meets our goal of research-driven, sound, environmental management while providing municipalities with a cost-effective means for managing their waste,” said Nutrients PLUS president John Moriarty. “Our efforts help Maryland, one of several states with nutrient management challenges, as its shoreline surrounds the Chesapeake Bay, and we do so by taking their product exclusively made for us and blending it in Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania with traditional fertilizer. Nutrients PLUS formulas then go to market and are proven to require less nutrients because they include natural sources such as Cumberland’s. It’s an amazing concept to avoid landfills in the region and use the nutrients for fertilizer, as they should be. There are only about two dozen wastewater treatment facilities in the United States that process waste-to-fertilizer in this fashion out of tens of thousands. We thoroughly evaluate all materials utilized in the production of our products, and we are particularly pleased that Cumberland’s product meets the high standards set for Exceptional Quality Biosolids under EPA Section 503.”
This agreement strengthens a long-standing relationship between the two companies, which began with Nutrients PLUS management team as early as 2003 for NEFCO’s facility in Quincy, Massachusetts. This facility services the city of Boston and forty-three surrounding communities, providing a beneficial use technique for ceasing the fifty-year practice of discharging biosolids into Boston Harbor. Additionally, the Biosolids Processing Facility in Palm Beach County, Florida which NEFCO made operational in 2009 has also become a part of Nutrient PLUS’s rapidly growing network of valuable natural fertilizers sourced nationally.
