OVERVIEW OF THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

SECTORJay Pimpare

EPA New England

State Marijuana Laws in 2017

Medical marijuana broadly legalized

No broad laws legalizing marijuanaMarijuana legalized for recreational use

Let’s Talk About Growers

•Local Zoning•Secure Sites•1,000-foot buffer (property line to property line) from: Schools, playgrounds, rec centers, child care, public parks, transit centers, libraries and arcade centers.

•Growers use large amounts of power.•Full production, large indoor grows may require new power lines to be installed.

Electricity

How is the POTW affected?

•Water use•Fertilizers•Pesticides•Slug loads

•Cleaning materials

•Soils, sediments & solids

Water

•Clean, reliable H2O source.

• Recycled H2O.

Common Fertilizers

•Food or crop grade.

•No “turf” fertilizers.

Producer Waste Streams

•Water and soils (minimal) to sanitary.

•Bulk waste soils taken offsite.

Lab Results

•Metals typically not an issue.

Hydrocarbon Extraction

•Butane strips the oils from the marijuana.

•Oil is heated to remove residual butane.

•Keeps fire depts. busy.

CO2 Extraction

•CO2 (and butane) extraction achieves 55-65% THC.

•95% using secondary processes.

•Categorical ???????????

Food Products

•Health Department

•FOG, Grease Interceptors??

Summary • Typically, no concerns

from a pollutant discharge aspect

• Solid waste management is highly controlled for plant waste

• Facility access

• Little or no liquid waste discharge

• Cost saving in production actively sought

• Spill impact is low

Thank You & Questions