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Thursday, April 07, 2005
Environment - IDEM recommends centralized manure composting facility
A story today by Seth Slabaugh in the Muncie Star-Press reports:
ANDERSON - State officials suggest creating a centralized manure composting facility and taking other steps to reduce E. coli bacteria in several tributaries of the White River in Delaware, Madison, Hamilton and Tipton counties.Consultants and representatives of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management today (Thursday) will present a draft plan to improve the quality of water in Killbuck, Pipe, Duck and Stony creeks. * * *
The draft plan recommends that farmers follow manure application rates; exclude livestock from the tributaries by fencing; leave stalks and leaves of harvested crops on their fields to reduce runoff; and consider establishing a centralized composting facility.
Farmers could receive incentive payments and cost sharing from the federal government for such practices, said Michael Hughes, district conservationist in Delaware County for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. However, there is never enough funding to go around for every farmer who applies for such assistance.
In some regions of the country, farmers have created central facilities where larger farmers take excess manure to be composted and sold to smaller farmers or other users as fertilizer and topsoil supplement, according to the plan.
The plan also recommends making a concerted effort to educate the owners of failing septic systems about having their systems inspected, repaired and pumped out, if necessary.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 7, 2005 10:57 AM
Posted to Environment