Additional Earthen Material Design and Construction Standards

Section 506 Section 506.307  Additional Earthen Material Design and Construction Standards a)         In addition to the requirements in Section 506.304, the design and construction of earthen components of livestock waste handling facilities must meet the following requirements: 1)         The construction and compaction of the earthen component must be carried out to reduce void spaces and allow the earthen component to support the loadings imposed by the livestock waste without settling; 2)         The minimum top width of any berm incorporated into the design of any earthen component must be 8 feet; and 3)         Walls incorporated into the design of an earthen component must have side slopes not steeper than a 2.5 to 1 ratio of horizontal to vertical. b)         The floor of enclosed deep-bedded livestock systems and poultry litter systems that handle waste in dry or solid form, and use an earthen base must be constructed to achieve a hydraulic conductivity of equal to or less than 1 x 10 -6 centimeters per second. c)         The owner or operator of the livestock waste handling facility may, upon written request and with written approval from the Department, modify or exceed these standards to meet site specific objectives.  The owner or operator must demonstrate that such modification will be at least as protective of the groundwater, the surface water, and the structural integrity of the livestock waste handling facility as the requirements of this Part.