Mary obtained her degree in Agronomy from Oregon State University in 1979. After moving to California, she started an agricultural consulting and laboratory business Agri Service, to serve the local farming and landscape industries. The laboratory afforded a unique opportunity to study the local soils and our diversified Southern California crops.

In 1994 Agri Service entered the organics recycling industry partnering with the City of Oceanside as the operator of El Corazon Compost Facility, which processes over 70,000 tons per year of yard trimmings, food discards and wood waste into high quality compost and mulch. She has developed and built facilities in Los Angeles and Riverside County and recently opened a new facility in Otay Mesa.

Mary is involved in the community as the President of San Diego County Farm Bureau, volunteers overseas as a consultant and farms avocados and coffee in Oceanside. Mary obtained her degree in Agronomy from Oregon State University in 1979. After moving to California, she started an agricultural consulting and laboratory business Agri Service, to serve the local farming and landscape industries. The laboratory afforded a unique opportunity to study the local soils and our diversified Southern California crops.In 1994 Agri Service entered the organics recycling industry partnering with the City of Oceanside as the operator of El Corazon Compost Facility, which processes over 70,000 tons per year of yard trimmings, food discards and wood waste into high quality compost and mulch. She has developed and built facilities in Los Angeles and Riverside County and recently opened a new facility in Otay Mesa. Mary is involved in the community as the President of San Diego County Farm Bureau, volunteers overseas as a consultant and farms avocados and coffee in Oceanside.

Session Code: 1A

Track: Operations

Session Name: Managing Contamination at Composting Facilities

Session Time: Wednesday, February 7, 8:15 – 9:45 AM

Presentation Title: Overcoming Contamination Challenges

Presentation Description: As the rollout of SB1383 continues to change the landscape of organics recycling, local governments, waste haulers, and processors are scrambling to develop solutions to manage the increased level of feedstock contamination. This presentation highlights how contamination management is critical to balancing the inflow of material with the outflow of finished products, developing end markets, and maintaining state and local regulatory compliance.