The STRAIGHT Poop

If you ever watched the Fox television show “Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?” you will know that a fifth grader is pretty smart these days. Further evidence of this is an article today in the Raleigh News & Observer about a fifth grader from Pinehurst, NC. Apparently fifth grader Nick Kuzma entered his findings on the use of poultry litter to break down oil into the N.C. Science and Engineering Fair and came out with an “Exemplary Project” award for his efforts. Nice job, Nick.

What Nick demonstrated is that poultry litter is pretty biologically active – a fact that explains why we manage poultry litter the way we do. We are careful to transport the litter in tightly-contained trucks and store all of the litter delivered to our plant in a fully enclosed Fuel Hall – under “negative pressure” to contain some of the products of this biological activity, like ammonia and “odor” components. We specifically plan for a certain amount of storage time in the Fuel Hall so that this activity will result in a better final fuel for our boiler.

While we are quite impressed with Nick’s findings, we just hope that we will not have to compete with this pretty smart fifth grader for the poultry litter we plan to use for our two plants in North Carolina.

As we have heard from Chairman Johnson, on Monday May 17, 2010 the Surry County Board of Commissioners voted to end negotiations with Fibrowatt regarding the development of the FibroHills Biomass Power Plant within the county. This action came as a result of a long and very contentious debate over the future direction of Surry County and pressure from residents in nearby Elkin.

It is unfortunate that the Commissioners had to endure so much pressure over their support for this project. We believe the county’s invitation for Fibrowatt to locate in Surry County was the right decision and would have brought about a number of important benefits for the county. Amongst the benefits would have been jobs and significant tax revenue and local spending. Furthermore, the FibroHills project would have helped support an important local industry, by providing the local poultry growers with a long-term alternative option for litter management and would have provided an important and needed new source of locally-generated renewable energy. Regrettably, Surry County and the local poultry industry will not be able to reap the benefits of this project. Read more »

One of the questions we are often asked is the importance of a plant to a local community – specifically the financial benefits. In addition to new jobs, there are other tangible financial benefits. While each project will differ based on location, we can look at the Minnesota project to better understand one of the substantial benefits of these plants – tax revenue. This tax revenue has added importance in these areas, where state support is often going down for rural communities and, as a result, the tax burden is being shifted further to a local, dwindling tax base.

In Benson Minnesota – the Fibrominn project is a very important contributor to the tax base. For 2010, the Fibrominn Biomass Power Plant will pay almost $840,000 in property taxes, which will be distributed primarily to taxing jurisdictions such as the Benson Public School District, the City of Benson, Swift County, and the State of Minnesota. The portion of these property taxes distributed to the City of Benson represent about 28% of Benson’s property tax income. This increase in tax revenue has been particularly important at a time when the State of Minnesota apportionment for Benson has gone down almost 50% in the past 8 years and is in danger of being reduced further under these tough economic conditions. Without the influx of taxes related to Fibrominn, the City likely would have had to raise taxes, increase local fees, reduce services, and lay off City employees.

Not only has there been a significant increase in tax revenue, there has also been a major increase in the total market value of property in Benson. From when the plant began construction in 2005, the total market value of property in Benson has gone up 67%, of which 4/10ths of this increase is associated with Fibrominn. While Fibrominn is a large part of this total market value increase, there also are a number of other important contributors, including significant new home growth in the City, business expansion, and the development of companion facilities. Read more »

While this is an issue that dates back to this time last year, I think it is important to again revisit a report released in opposition to the proposed FibroHills plant in Surry County. On May 6, 2009, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) released a study that was said to show results which demonstrate that this proposed plant would not be able to meet North Carolina’s stringent air permitting requirements and would endanger local residents. This report was widely distributed and BREDL held meetings around the state to present their findings.

However … as it turns out … this is a seriously flawed analysis that relies on faulty assumptions, omits key information, and distorts the facts.

Soon after this BREDL study was released, Fibrowatt completed a review of BREDL’s study and released an accurate presentation of the facts (opens as .pdf; file is 1MB). When the BREDL report is corrected and updated using accurate/factual data, their report shows that the planned Fibrowatt plant in Surry would easily meet the standards that BREDL was concerned about.

Nonetheless, this BREDL report continues to surface and has been referenced by opponents as “credible evidence” against the development of a plant in Surry County.

While we support a healthy debate on the merits of the FibroHills plant, a process that would naturally include the very extensive permitting process, we will not sit back idly and let a flawed report continue to be used against the project or to attack the Surry County Board of Commissioners. To have a healthy debate on the FibroHills project requires a debate built around credible evidence – not the BREDL report. Read more »

Dean Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, is currently on a month-long paddling trip down the Yadkin River to raise awareness about the importance of this waterway. On day seven of his trip, Dean highlighted one of his major concerns about pollution and the Yadkin River – the abundance of chicken poop that “just runs off into rivers and streams as a result of over application to fields.”

The Yadkin Riverkeeper notes in his journal that the Yadkin River Basin has more chickens (57 million) and produces more chicken poop (12 million pounds per day) than any other river basin in the North Carolina.

“It is a lot of poop for any river and it receives no formal treatment,” Naujoks said. Read more »