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Letter to the Editor: There’s nothing ‘deplorable’ about holding these beliefs

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<p>With so much talk about the possible creation of Growing Greener III and the need for Pennsylvania to do its part in cleaning the Chesapeake Bay, lawmakers have a perfect opportunity to do both at a significant discount.</p><p>All they have to do is to embrace private-sector solutions such as manure-treatment technologies.</p><p>Manure-treatment technology directly prevents phosphorous and nitrogen, including airborne ammonia, from reaching the bay &#8211; key goals for Growing Greener III. Lawmakers have put a $315 million annual price tag on Growing Greener. Not only would that cost be virtually wiped out, but the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee estimates that credits produced from on-site manure treatment will cost Pennsylvania 80 percent less than the billions the commonwealth is spending in taxpayer dollars on bay compliance.</p><p>Considering Pennsylvania has spent $4 billion to clean the bay with little to show for it, it&#8217;s time to put private-sector cost-effective measures to work for the commonwealth. A proposed regional project at Kreider Farms in Lancaster, which will treat in excess of 400 tons of layer manure daily from 9 million chickens, is offering to sell nitrogen and phosphorous credits produced from treatment to help meet the bay mandate.</p><p>As a byproduct of these treatment technologies, large-scale Growing Greener III benefits &#8211; such as water treatment and reuse, reductions of nitrogen and phosphorous to the local freshwater resources, renewable natural gas, and hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gas reductions &#8211; would be generated at no additional cost to the taxpayer.</p><p>In the interests of taxpayers and the environment, Pennsylvania needs to adopt legislation that would implement the finance committee&#8217;s study recommendations. By doing so, lawmakers will achieve some of the goals of Growing Greener III without asking taxpayers to foot the bill.</p><p><strong>Mike McCloskey</strong></p><p>and</p><p><strong>Dominic Bassani</strong></p><p>Coalition for Affordable Bay Solutions</p><p>Harrisburg</p><style>
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Letter to the Editor: Pennsylvania can help to clean bay by embracing private-sector solution