Provided by Bion Environmental Technologies
OSWEGO, NY – Bion Environmental Technologies is pleased to announce that its Kreider Dairy Farm waste treatment installation is finishing construction and nearing operational startup.
Bion has consistently recommended that third party data from the operation of this large-scale installation be a prerequisite for regulatory and public review of its proposed project in Oswego County. It would locate a 72,000-head cattle project somewhere in the county.
Bion announced that it believes its partnership with Kreider Farms in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is an example of how agriculture will be a leader in helping solve the nation’s environmental challenges.
Bion made this announcement in response to an April 6 petition, filed on behalf of several environmental groups, urging the US EPA to issue a national ambient air quality standard for ammonia gas.
The Bion/Kreider Farms project will demonstrate that the choice is not simply between “clean air, water and a healthy environment or CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations).”
This 1,200 cow dairy project will demonstrate that livestock agriculture, including CAFOs, can operate in a manner that is consistent with clean air, water and a healthy environment.
A CAFO, properly managed, can operate as a necessary and productive element of our economy, generating safe environmental impacts.
The Bion/Kreider project will show a significant (over 75%) reduction of ammonia from the dairy’s 1,200 cows.
These nitrogen reductions will be based upon measurements taken in accordance with an approved verification plan.
They will result in verified credits for nitrogen reductions to the Chesapeake Bay, due in large part to the reductions of ammonia at Kreider Farms.
Bion’s mass balance measurements will include the nitrogen components that exist in the livestock waste stream and are lost to the environment PRIOR to application to cropland.
This is substantially different than the present measurement approach that only considers the nitrogen that is applied to the cropland.
Bion’s facility will both define the extent of the total nitrogen releases to the water run-off system, including ammonia, and provide the technology to mitigate the releases at their livestock source.
Bion’s project at Kreider Farms, a voluntary effort on the part of all the various stakeholder groups, demonstrates that a cost effective solution to the environmental impacts associated with livestock waste is possible.
This $7.8 million project was financed by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority after a thorough review process by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
Bion has met with the US EPA and has had a continuing dialogue with various environmental groups, such as PennFuture, to provide a transparent understanding of the project and its goals.
The project is a part of Pennsylvania’s overall response to the Chesapeake Bay mandate.
While the results of this partnership represent a victory for both the farm and the environment, the real winner associated with the project will be the Pennsylvania taxpayer.
Ed Schafer, Bion’s Director of Government Policy, points out that “Providing a low-cost alternative to the traditional rate payer-funded approach of expanding nutrient removal capacity at water treatment plants can save taxpayers millions of dollars in rate hikes.”
Bion is convinced that environmental sustainability cannot be achieved at the expense of economic sustainability.
The Kreider Farms project demonstrates that livestock agriculture can provide a cost effective solution to the excess nitrogen issue that affects the nation’s large water basins.
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So, the only thing BION knows is how to design sewage treatment plants for cows. That is why they can’t and won’t answer any questions about the operation they hope someone will build around their cow sewer system in Oswego County. My guess is that wthout the County saying they ‘support’ the project they can’t get any investers interested and without a site plan they won’t get any local government support. At the meeting at the college they stated they will not build the barns, slaughterhouse or anything esle – just sell the plans for the sewer sytem to whom ever builds it.
Mike makes a good point. But comparison of Kreider’s 1200-dairy cow operation with the proposed operation in Oswego County (OC) is simply ludicrous, in any case. Other than their waste process, the value of which has not been questioned (assuming it works there — and would work in our colder environment), here are some differences: (1) dairy cows are not slaughtered on a daily basis; in OC, some 156,000 animals will be trucked to slaughter over local roads all year long (using only 5 days a week for slaughter) — and this does not count the 156,000 cattle brought in to replace them. (2) Unlike Kreider, we have NO pollution from any such operations at present — any such project will increase pollution and risks to local (high) water tables as well as roads (untreated feces & urine) and air (any odors not mitigated, as well as fecal dust from cattle trucks). (3) There is no trucking of manure (or portions thereof) to an ethanol facility (for use as fuel) in PA, but there will be here. (4) The slaughter operation imposed on us (no such proposal for PA) will likely cause more social problems than the jobs will be worth, if many of the existing studies of such businesses are to be believed — and most of the associated jobs do not pay well. (5) Aside from road safety and congestion issues, damage to roads — especially in the wet spring season — will increase, due to heavy truck traffic (cattle, wet manure) here. (6) If the PA experiment fails, only Bion loses; little else is affected — except for the pocketbooks of PA taxpayers; with all the major impacts Bion’s proposal will have here — with 60 times as many animals and completely different end products — and the imposed added risks, any problem unforseen and/or left unremediated by Bion will have a huge impact on local finances — especially in light of their refusal to consider putting up any performance or environmental damage bonds. It’s not worth it.
Mike, you are absolutely correct. This business group wants only to sell their “product”, and to do so, they have to creat these huge community destroying, polluting, cruel, animal factories to do so. If they would use their technology to clan up the many feedlots and slaughter houses that already exist, that would be another thing, but they want to sell their “clean-up technology” AND by so doing, accrue carbon credits that can then be sold for even more big bucks. I certainly hope that Oswego County can hold strong and see through the misrepresentations and omissions and that they will be more transparent with and responsive to their constituents. So far, they have been much more conscientious about their approach to this proposal than others so far involved.
The EPA states that approx.15% of Americans rely on private wells for their drinking water supplies..These supplies are not subject to EPA standards.Livestock waste contains over 150 pathogens that are a proven risk to our health.Large CAFO’s(contained animal feeding opeeration) are a known major contributor to ground water contamination.90% of CAFO generated waste is land applied.BION will claim”no potential to discharge into navigable waters”.This SEQR loophole intentionally omits all groundwater.BION will assume all jurisdiction over all surface water as per the CAFO rule.They will not be held liable for precipitation and stormwater pollution.Agriculture stormwater discharges are statutorily exempt from all effluent limitations.Simply stated,BION will spread countless acres with toxins that will infiltrate our aquafers through the absorbtion of rain and snow melt runoff.They will not be held liable.The CAFO rule also compromises the publics ability to bring citizen lawsuits.A proven enforcement tool that congress intended to be used to protect BION from any legal enforcement action.The countless EPA loopholes,CAFO loopholes, self regulating SEQR loopholes,NPDES permit loopholes,point source loopholes,and big USDA deregulations(or more commonly referred to as the Cheney loophole),all represent modern day corruption at its finest.For BION to claim that this slaughterhouse will create hundreds of jobs and millions through plant tours,is to say the least,laughable.It is proven that CAFOs substantially increase poverty,increase crime,lower home values,destroy infrastructure,and irreversibly contaminate ground water.As far as plant tours is concerned,who in their right mind is going to pack a bus full of kindergarteners and ship them off to a slaughterhouse for a tour.This is not going to be old MacDonalds dairy farm regardless of how well the BION talking heads spin the facts to make this horror show sound like the second coming of Christ.How often we have witness big deregulated company promising to come into a small town and offer numerous low paying jobs and abide by all non-existing state and federal laws only to watch big deregulated company reap huge profits at the expense of poisoning our air,our land and our water.