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Monday, December 01, 2008

Maryland getting tougher on chicken manure

Chicken farmers in Maryland are being blamed for increased pollution in Chesapeake Bay, as unregulated chicken manure is being washed into streams that flow into the arm of the Atlantic. The state is proposing new regulations for manure storage and disposal by one of the largest agricultural industries in the state.

Opponents of the regulations say farmers "are already doing their part to protect the environment and that the proposed regulations come as the industry is reeling from record-high energy and feed prices," reports Ian Urbina in The New York Times. Supporters say the rules would merely bring the industry in line with other livestock groups in the state. “We don’t let hog or dairy farms spread their waste unregulated, and we wouldn’t let a town of 25,000 people dump human manure untreated on open lands,” said Gerald W. Winegrad, former state senator and a public policy professor at the University of Maryland. “So why should we allow a farm with 150,000 chickens do it?” (Read more)

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