HUNTINGDON (Huntingdon
Co.) Small streams are natural
treasures, supplying some of our
cleanest and healthiest water and
feeding larger trout streams and
rivers. Managing these small
streams properly helps protect and
improve the environment, said an
aquatic ecologist in Penn State’s
College of Agriculture.
“People shouldn’t be too quick
to ‘clean out’ their small streams,”
said Dr. James R. Pratt, assistant
professor of aquatic ecology in the
college’s School of Forest Resour
ces. “They’ll probably find some
small fish in the pools that debris
creates, and by giving the algae
and microbes in the water a
chance to break down fertilizers
and other materials, they’ll be
helping the environment.”
Bacteria, algae and protozoa
live in these streams and break
down sewage and other organic
matter and take up nutrients from
fertilizer runoff. Microbes help
streams “clean” themselves, Pratt
said. “When sewage or chemicals
enter a stream, the microbes func
tion like a small treatment plant,
feeding on the pollution.”
Bacteria, molds and protozoa
also feed on leaves, wood scraps,
and debris that fall into the stream.
Microbes and the small leaf frag
ments left behind are eaten by lar
ger organisms such as insects and
fish.
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Small Stream Management Benefits Environment
An important way to care for a
small stream is to leave intact piles
of brush and logs that clog it
“These little dams help the stream
and the environment in several
ways,” Pratt said. “Even insecti
cides and other chemicals can be'
broken down in small streams
when the water pools up.”
These pools slow the water
flow during rainstorms and stop
Cargill To Build Facility To
MINNEAPOLIS. Minn.
Cargill announced that it will
build a large-scale plant to pro
duce lactic acid polymer, a biode
gradable plastic made from
renewable resources that can
replace petrochemical-based plas
tics in a variety of food service,
packaging, and other applications.
The $B-million plant, to be
located at Savage, Minn., will
make the polymer from natural
lactic acid, which is produced by
bacterial fermentation of sugars
derived from such agricultural
products as com and other grains,
potatoes, sugar beets, and' milk.
Among the possible applica
tions for the new product would be
disposable fast-food, dairy and
deli containers, food'service ware,
and disposable diapers, medical
garments, personal hygiene pro
ducts, and yard waste bags.
TINGLEY
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contaminants, such as manure and
fertilizer, from washing downs
tream. When water is retained
behind debris dams, silt and sedi
ment settle out. In turn, the
nutrient-rich silt helps feed the
microbes that break down leaves,
pollutants, and debris.
Pratt said this process also pro
duces more and better food for
fish in the stream. “Holding .back
‘The growing worldwide con
cern over solid waste disposal has
prompted consumers, retailers,
and manufacturers to consider a
product’s ultimate disposability or
recyclability when purchasing or
designing packaging and other
plastic articles,” said Mike Urban
ic, president of Cargill’s Com
Milling Division. “Our product
offers the performance benefits of
petrochemical-based plastics, but
is compatible with various forms
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the water even slightly gives nutri
ents more time to be absorbed by
algae and other stream organisms
that the fish feed on,” he said.
Damming also holds back
damaging storm water. “The ener
gy of water rushing downhill is
diminished by the little debris
dams,” Pratt said. “This keeps the
stream from cutting deeper into
the ground and keeps the stream
channel stable.
Make Biodegradable
of waste disposal, including
composting.”
The plant, to be built at Port
Cargill on die Minnesota River
near Minneapolis, is expected to
be operational by February 1994,
and will have a capacity of 10 mil
lion pounds annually, Urbanic
said. “We expect that demand for
this product will lead to an even
larger plant to produce corn
derived lactic acid polymers as
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"Removing debris from a
stream, particularly with heavy
equipment, can cause erosion and
other problems. This erosion can
undercut culverts and bridge abut
ments, slump stream banks, and
destroy cross-stream fencing.”
Pratt said that very large debris
dams that cause flooding should
be thinned, but not completely
destroyed.
Plastic
early as 1996,” he said.
Cargill’s Corn Milling Division
has processing plants in Cedar
Rapids and Eddyville, Iowa; Day
ton, Ohio; and Memphis, Tenn.
Major products of those plants are
corn sweeteners, cornstarches,
corn oil, citric acid, sodium
citrate, and com gluten feed ingre
dients. The division opened an
ethanol refinery at the Eddyville
plant in 1992.
4 OR 5 TINE