South Dakota

Some Rapid City residents are facing a stinky problem

Published

2 years ago

January 19, 2023

Some Rapid City residents are facing a stinky problem

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) – A Speedy Metropolis neighborhood is dealing with a smelly scenario. They consider their properties are being overrun with skunks.

Dwelling within the Black Hills it comes as no shock when individuals come nose to nose with wildlife, however for John Burke, the rise in skunks in his neighborhood is a trigger for concern.

“We’re proper downtown, we’re half a block off West Boulevard and so we’re not on the outskirts of town weren’t by the woods, we’re proper downtown,” stated Burke.

Although he lives lower than a mile from downtown Speedy Metropolis, Burke has trapped 4 skunks within the final month.

Moreover, animal management Officer KP Davidson says the Humane Society of the Black Hills has acquired an uptick in calls concerning skunk elimination.

“So I’m questioning if there’s a den that could be fairly massive that’s received a number of skunks which are type of touring the world as a result of a skunk will keep in like a four-mile radius of its den normally as a result of they will journey as much as one mile an evening. However there was an enormous uptick of skunk calls inside the metropolis,” stated Officer Davidson.

Burke and his neighbors fear in regards to the pets and kids within the neighborhood as skunks can carry ailments, and their spray can depart a rotten odor that lasts for weeks.

Donna Mulder, a resident within the neighborhood stated, “the following era of grandchildren are working round right here and many people have pets and like I stated we carry these pets into the home and into the lounge, we could also be unaware they had been uncovered.”

“Properly, the protection difficulty might be the largest one, neighbors have pets and grandchildren play within the space, and kids, neighbors simply have a baby so, the protection is one factor,” stated Jerilyn Glanzer, who lives two doorways down from Burke.

“So, they don’t belong within the space the place individuals dwell or that you’ve got household, tenants, or youngsters or your possessions principally they only actually don’t belong in that space,” stated Lori Sauser, one other resident within the neighborhood.

Burke reached out to town. The response was not what he anticipated.

“They principally stated you’re going to must dwell with it. Properly, I don’t need to dwell with it, I need to do away with the skunks,” stated Burke, in response to town.

We reached out to Speedy Metropolis’s communication coordinator Darrell Shoemaker, who says that town doesn’t have a trapping program, however owners can set traps on their properties or contact a pest management firm.

“If we had a problem of a rabid animal in one in every of our metropolis parks or on college grounds and so forth that will surely be an exception. They actually can test off with Sport, Fish, and Parks Division maybe and discover out if they’ve any choices however typically talking the trapping of pests on non-public property it rests with the non-public home-owner,” stated Shoemaker.

Skunks might be discovered dwelling beneath decks or porches and even inside garages, barns, or sheds.

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South Dakota

Extreme Cold Warning Issued for Southwest Minnesota and East-Central South Dakota

Published

5 hours ago

January 20, 2025

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Extreme Cold Warning Issued for Southwest Minnesota and East-Central South Dakota

MARSHALL— The National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Cold Warning in effect until noon CST Tuesday for portions of southwest Minnesota and east-central South Dakota.

The affected area includes cities such as Hendricks, Ivanhoe, Madison, Pipestone, Arlington, Lake Preston, Orland, Flandreau, Brookings, De Smet, Marshall, Tyler, Slayton, Lake Benton, and Fulda.

Wind chills may plunge as low as -40°F, creating life-threatening conditions. Frostbite can occur on exposed skin within 10 minutes.

Limit outdoor exposure. If you must go outside, dress in layers, including a hat, face mask, and gloves. Keep pets indoors and check on vulnerable individuals, including older adults and neighbors. Use portable heaters safely and avoid indoor use of generators or grills.

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South Dakota

South Dakota Company Recycles Plastic Into Fence Posts | Aberdeen Insider

Published

13 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

South Dakota Company Recycles Plastic Into Fence Posts | Aberdeen Insider

Many farmers are frustrated with all of the plastic that clutters their farmyards.

Tarps from silage piles, plastic containers, net wrap, totes and drums pile up. It is estimated that 12.5 million tons of agricultural plastic are used annually in the U.S.

A company near Lennox transforms the plastic generated on farms and from other sources into something that every farm needs — 4-inch and 6-inch fence posts. It’s a brilliant example of waste reimagined.

Billy Pollema, vice president of sales for ZahnTech, said the company transforms waste plastic into a product needed by the ag market.

“We sell these posts nationwide, and some have gone to Florida and the Caribbean islands. In those places, they struggle with wood posts rotting due to the salt water and humidity, so this is a good fit for them,” Pollema said.

Bags and other types of plastic are recycled into fence posts by ZahnTech in Lennox. Courtesy photo.

MORE: New agricultural business program will start next fall at Northern State

“Currently, the company processes 30,000 pounds of plastic daily,” he said. “We take it in, shred it, melt it and turn it into something useful. Our goal is to triple what we can process.”

People are thinking more about being sustainable and many want to get to zero waste. The company wants to rebrand recycling and change the way the world views garbage.

ZahnTech is eager to keep plastic out of the landfill.

“We encourage people to bring plastic to us from all over South Dakota. We are even getting some from Wyoming. Our company is partnering with farmers plus different industries. We take it all in as long as it is plastic. There are seven types of plastic in our formulation,” Pollema said.

Trucks constantly pull up to drop off their loads, he said.

“We take chemical jugs as long as they’ve been properly rinsed. We get thousands of barrels from ag companies during the summer and fall, plus plastic pallets,” Pollema said. “We’ve partnered with the city of Beresford to take their curbside pickup materials. Every two or three weeks, it comes to us in bales. They’ll dump it in our shed and we’ll take it from there. We do not accept liquids, glass, metal or hazardous chemicals.”

In addition to ag plastic, ZahnTech is getting semi loads of plastic waste from many industry partners, including Glanbia Nutritionals, which has locations all over the country. Recently, 10 semi-loads of Walmart bags were dropped off. That’s 500,000 pounds of bags waiting to be shredded.

The process uses a primary shredder and a secondary shredder, reducing the plastic to three-eighths inch. Then the material goes through the hot melt extruder and flows into molds for the 4-inch and 6-inch posts.

MORE: Latest 2024 farm income forecast shows overall decrease from 2023

There’s strong demand for the posts.

“We price them to be competitive with the wood market as farmers don’t want to pay more than they have to. ZahnTech is one of the few companies using this process. In addition to the company in New Zealand, there is one in Canada and one in Pennsylvania,” Pollema said.

He was at the recent Dakota Farm Show in Vermillion showing people the pros of using the posts and explaining what the company does. The plastic posts can replace the green-treated posts or posts treated with creosote to prevent rot. Wood posts normally need to be replaced every 10 years or sooner. ZahnTech information said testing shows their posts will last 100 years.

Business sparked by frustration from lack of plastic scrap recycling options

A fence post made from recycled plastic by ZahnTech in Lennox. Courtesy photo.

The owner, Avery Zahn, started the process, and Pollema shared Zahn’s story.

Zahn has owned a pipeline business. His frustration stemmed from the lack of plastic scrap recycling options, forcing him to take the materials to the landfill. After he sold his business, Zahn noticed the railroad ties around his horse arena were rotting and needed to be replaced. Remembering the unrecyclable plastic, he searched for a way to make something usable from it, such as fence posts. He found that in New Zealand, a company developed a process to do that.

“He bought his first extrusion machine from New York, brought it to South Dakota and started figuring out a way to melt the plastic and turn it into fence posts,” Pollema said “Avery tried different formulations and produced a composite to get the posts to the needed strength. After a year and a half of research and development, the company started making and selling products. That was a year and a half ago. It all started with Avery looking at the posts and deciding, ‘I’m going to come up with a better way.’”

The biggest cost for ZahnTech is electricity, with 3,000 amps of service coming into the production facility.

“It’s our major cost and it would be great if we could reduce that, maybe by using some solar power,” Pollema said.

MORE: Invenergy plans 250 megawatt wind farm in Frederick area

While the electricity is expensive, the plastic is free.

“People are looking for places to get rid of their plastic,” he said. “We are diverting as much from the landfill as possible. It’s a great selling point for our posts as people can see we are doing something good for the environment. For years, people buried plastic, and it will take years to degrade. Many people get behind what we are doing.”

ZahnTech produces 300 plastic fence posts per day

The company produces 300 posts a day with six people in the production line who do the shredding, bundling, receiving material and fabrication. In all, there are 11 employees.

Avery Zahn founded and owns ZahnTech, a Lennox business that recycles plastic of all sorts into fence posts. Courtesy photo.

The goal is to handle 40,000 to 50,000 pounds of plastic a day with the two main lines. When ZahnTech adds another line, it will be able to handle 60,000 to 70,000 pounds a day.

Currently, ZahnTech is transforming 98% of waste into sustainable products,” Zahn said.

“We’re not far from achieving our goal — 100% waste conversion. The company wants to build a greener, cleaner world, one fence post at a time,” he said.

On its website, ZahnTech claims its posts are 10 times stronger and 20 times more durable than wood. They are flexible and can be post-driven, cut, drilled, nailed, screwed, bolted or stapled. The posts are fire-resistant, non-conductive, won’t split or rot and are impenetrable by water, frost and pests, per the website. They can also be pulled up and repositioned.

Connie Sieh Groop of Frederick is a veteran journalist and writer who has focused on all aspects of the agriculture industry during her career.

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