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NEWS
NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE FUNDS INNOVATIVE PROJECT IN PENNSYLVANIA
HARRISBURG, June 27, 2007—State Conservationist Craig Derickson today announced
that the Pennsylvania Environmental Council will receive $212,048 to fund an
innovative project designed to use excess manure for mine reclamation and
biofuel production in Schuylkill County.
“This project is an example of the innovation the USDA is attempting to expand
in the 2007 Farm Bill,” Derickson said. “Projects such as this will develop and
refine cutting-edge technologies and approaches that can help Pennsylvania
producers maintain viable agricultural operations and contribute to the
restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.”
PEC and its partners will design a commercial-scale demonstration area using
composted poultry manure largely from farms eligible for the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). These farms are located in watersheds in the
Susquehanna River Basin that are rich in nutrients such as nitrogen and
phosphorus. Manure from these farms will be transported to nutrient-deficient
mine lands in Schuylkill County. These sites will be used to cultivate
switchgrass and native grassland perennials for biomass production once the soil
is nourished by the nutrients. Biomass production and carbon sequestration will
be monitored on the 40-acre demonstration area during the three-year project.
This project also may help producers engage in the emerging nutrient trading
program for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in Pennsylvania. It will assist
producers, local conservation districts, and the PA Department of Environmental
Protection to arrange for the quantification, certification, sale and transfer
of eligible nutrient reduction credits to interested buyers and aggregators.
Other partners besides PEC include Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture,
Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission,
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, The Chesapeake Bay
Foundation, the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation
and the Western Pennsylvania Watershed Program.
The funding for this project comes from NRCS’s Conservation Innovation Grant
(CIG) program. CIG funds projects targeting innovative on-the-ground
conservation. It is a vehicle to stimulate the development and adoption of
conservation approaches or technologies that have been studied sufficiently to
indicate a likelihood of success and to be candidates for eventual technology
transfer. For more information on the CIG program, please visit
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/.
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