Clean Water and Biomass Energy

     In 1992, the EPA began to give states guidelines for identifying and establishing pollution controls for the nation's most polluted waterways.  Called Section 303(d), it was an extension of the 1972 Clean Water Act which was initially created to regulate the discharge of pollutants into surface waters.  Section 303(d) called for states to identify a list of "impaired waters" and develop a program of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) of nutrients and sediment that could pollute a body of water and still meet the Clean Water standards.  The intent was to create a schedule of sorts, as to how states would reduce pollution to bring waterways into standards determined by the EPA.  The TMDL was a legally binding limit that once accepted would serve as a mandate to the particular jurisdiction involved. 

     Things became complicated when states started looking at the Chesapeake Bay.  The Chesapeake Bay watershed encompasses areas of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New York and the District of Columbia.  No one state would be able to reach the standards alone, and efforts required coordination.  It took until the end of 2011 for TMDLs and implementation plans to be submitted and approved by the EPA.   Then, immediately, in the beginning of 2012 states were required to begin their implementation plans.

     One of the largest sources of nutrients in the Chesapeake Bay watershed is animal manure and poultry litter.  "Three major areas hold the greatest concentration of livestock: the Lower Susquehanna River region in Pennsylvania features dairy, beef and chicken farms; the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and West Virginia has a group of chicken and turkey producers; and the Delmarva Peninsula in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia is dominated by chicken production."  The State of Maryland has solicited proposals for turning this animal waste into energy.  The state has agreed to sign a 15 or 20 year power purchase agreement with the proposals that it selects.

     Among the projects that are currently in operation are EcoCorp which is running a 1MW poultry litter anaerobic digestion power generator.  This system is able to provide one third of the necessary power to a Maryland correctional facility on the Eastern Shore.  Not only are they reducing the amount of poultry litter that could end up as runoff into the Chesapeake Bay, but they are providing an alternate source of electricity.

    Other projects include the burning the poultry litter to generate heat and electricity, both of which are used locally at the source to heat the poultry houses that are creating the waste in the first place.  Then there is Perdue who is creating a 10MW poultry litter gassification plant.  Not only are they generating as much energy as a small coal fired power plant, they are also generating 70,000 pounds of steam per hour which they will use at their adjacent soybean processing plant.

     " Maryland could be on the cutting edge of technology and project development in terms of poultry litter use."  Through a little bit of creativity, being good stewards of our waterways can also mean being good stewards of other parts of our environment.  Using this technology to reduce pollutants in the Bay will also reduce our reliance on coal fired power plants. By promoting alternative sources of energy such as this, hopefully in the future we can also be leaders of clean energy.

Poultry Litter Landscape

EPA Clean Water Act Section 303(d)