Eden Research gets approval to make 'soil supplement' in Dayton

A manufacturer of a new type of soil supplement will be able to manufacture the product in Dayton.

Eden Research LLC's request for a special use permit to manufacture the product, which partner Jeff Hampton said is not a fertilizer, was approved by the Lyon County Commission on Thursday.

Hampton described the process as taking rock high in minerals, such as granite, and using chemicals and "vibrating" equipment reducing it do a fine soil-type product, with the consistency of talcum powder.

The chemicals used would include lime, methyl alcohol, sodium hypochlorite, sodium cyanide, sodium sulfide, activated carbon, methanol and calcium oxide, and Hampton told the commissioners they would be stored indoors and would not pose a threat to the community because everything would be contained inside the company's building.

"It is fully enclosed and we re-use our water," he said. "Our selection of this building is because it's already set up to do this kind of work."

Mary Mains, another partner in the company, said cyanide would initially not be used, but may be used later if necessary.

Hampton described the soil supplement as having been researched for 20 years, "by two of the best scientists in the world."

He said it was not fertilizer, but it eliminates the need for fertilizer because it enriches soil, and would only have to be used every five years in most cases.

Lyon County Planning Director Rob Loveberg said his staff didn't consider the product to be fertilizer, based on the applicant's description of it, but Carol Dotson, representing Dayton Valley Investors, owners of the adjacent Airpark Estates development, said attorneys she consulted consider it fertilizer.

Dotson and Sandy Duncan, president of the Airpark Estates Homeowners Association, expressed concern about noise and odor.

Duncan also said the manufacture of fertilizer violated the industrial park's conditions, covenants and restrictions.

Mains admitted there would be some minor odor, and insisted that the product was not fertilizer, and was in compliance with the conditions, covenants and restrictions.

Commissioner Bob Milz read the objections of the Dayton Regional Advisory Council, which Hampton and Mains did not appear before, and said he could not support the permit request. His was the only vote against the request. Mains said the two were unaware of the advisory council's meeting.

The commissioners did place two conditions on the approval: Trucks can only bring soil in from 6 a.m.- 6 p.m. each day, including weekends, and the company would have to return in a year to the county commission for renewal of the permit.

Eden Research will do the work in a 53,000-square-foot building at 10 Airpark Vista Boulevard in Dayton.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.