To Whom it May Concern:  Having worked on vegetable farms for 11 seasons--and having run my own "community-supported agriculture" (CSA) vegetable garden operation for three years--and as a resident of Rockingham County, a consumer of local food, a spouse of a pastor, a professor of theology and ethics at a Harrisburg-based university, a person of faith, and one who enjoys the natural beauty of the Shenendoah Valley, I want to commend the DEQ for these well vetted, thoughtful, and balanced proposals for regulating the VA chicken litter market.  We can no longer afford to leave the water quality of our state entirely up to market forces and conventional practices, as well-intentioned as the large majority of VA farmes are. The natural tendency to over-use fertility is well attested by decades of examples. I encourage the DEQ to stick by its proposed limits of 1.5 tons of litter every 3 years and for the proposals to cover end-users using 5 tons or more of material.  Thank you for your careful and conscientious efforts to be wise stewards of our precious and shared state resources.

peace in Christ,

Kent D. Sensenig