Part II; Nutrient Management Proposals Challenge
(Contbuwd from Pag* A 1) dcning’s proposal has been The irony of the situation is that
Board gave a rough overview of endorsed by the Maryland Farm phosphorus is not directly a human
the situation as it was presented to Bureau) would require all farms 10 health threat, while nitrogen can
Pennsylvania. acres or more, regardless of lives- be.
In essence, it is this: it appears lock raised or owned, to have The only reason for the height
imminent that nutrient managment nutrient management plans based ened concern about phosphorus is
planning here will have to address on phosphorus. that it docs stimulate algae and
phophorus as much as nitrogen Those who have proposed the bacterial blooms, which can
(currently the nutrient of most con- legislation already have proposed deplete dissolved oxygen levels in
cem to Pennsylvania); and that state funding to help cost-share the water, thereby killing fish; and the
means manures high in phosphor- expense of shipping manure out of algae can serve as food and thus
us will not be allowed to be applied Maryland Eastern Shore, as indirectly may provide the stimu
on croplands with existing adequ- W£ H 48 for helping to pay for the his for boosting pflsteria piscici
atc to excessive levels of pho- nitrogen that farmers would have dasi populations,
sphorus; and since manures gencr- 1° buy to raise crops on the high Whether phosphorus causes
ally provide more phosphorus than phosphorus soils. pfisteria to turn into a fish killer or
plants need, fanners will be forced According to information pre- emit neurotoxins into the waters is
to purchase nitrogen to fulfill plant sented to the Pennsylvania SCS uncertain, though that is another
requirements, while at the same Nutrient Management Advisory premise for the emphasis on
time finding some means of dis- Board, in most cases balancing the phosphorus,
posing of unusable manure. nutrient load for fields means that However, there is another possi-
To Pennsylvania’s southern rnost manures would provide the bility, something seemingly more
neighbors, according to a rep- limit for phosphorus well before biologically plausible, that could
rcsentative of the Maryland reaching the need for nitrogen. discount the role of phosphorus as
Department of Agriculture, it It means that nitrogen will have causing pfisteria to kill fish,
appears imminent that proposed to a purchased nutrient in many, if It has been suggested that,
legislation there (Gov. Paris Glen- not most, cases. because the timing of the pfisteria
1
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problem coincided with a change
in the movement of the fish species
most affected, that perhaps a
chemical released by migrating
schools of fish may We actually
triggered the switch in the pfisteria
from feeding on alga to fish.
Many life forms are advanta
geous feeders and can switch from
food source to food source on a
seasonal, or other basis. At the core
of that is a biological rule of
thumb: life seeks out whatever
provides the most nutrition for the
least amount of work.
However, not enough money or
time has been devoted to discover
ing the actual cause.
In addition to the pfisteria prob
lems, the EPA cites major dump
ings of manure into waterways and
potentials for future pollutings to
occur as enough reason to increase
national regulatory control of
livestock operations in the United
States.
In Pennsylvania, there has been
Farming
no proposal for creating an educa
tional, testing and certification
program for applying manure on
land, but that is part of some of the
proposals for Maryland.
Pennsylvania does have a certi
fication program for those who
develop nutrient management
plans a document describing a
livestock farmer’s plan of prac
tices and actions to account for the
safe handling and disposition of
manures generated on a livestock
farm.
While Pennsylvania agriculture
and environmental groups, includ
ing those representing organiza
tions to revive and protect the Che
sapeake Bay aquatic ecosystems,
developed the state Nutrient Man
agement Act and the regulations,
the federal initiative has already
caused changes.
However, proposed
regulatory changes in
Pennsylvania for issu
ing permits for the con
struction of manure
storage facilities arc to
increase, and a federal
National Pollutant Dis
charge Elimination Sys
tem (NPDES) permit
and a state Part II permit
are to be required in
addition to a nutrient
management plan.
According to Carol
Young with the state
Department of Environ
mental Protection, work
is being done to revise
state regulations cover
ing the public review of
environmental permits
required for large lives
tock feeding operations.
She told the board
that while there is no
official moratorium on
approving permit appli
cations for construction
of new or expanded
manure storage facili
ties, since the applica
tion form and permits
have not yet been
revised, in effect there
are several known appl
icants who have been
put on hold until the
revisions can be made.
(Turn to Pag* A 34)
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