Timothy J. Griffith
5130 Brittney Elise Cir.
Centreville, VA 20120

In my opinion the use of poultry litter as fertilizer in the Shenandoah Valley needs to be regulated. While the use of litter as a fertilizer seems to be a good use for waste, I believe that the unregulated use of this litter will lead to and has lead to the polluting of streams and rivers within the valley. The proposed legislation seeks to control over-application of the litter and to limit the application of the litter to areas of the valley where litter runoff into streams is unlikely. I fish in the Shenandoah Valley several times a year and have noticed the decline in the quality of my fishing experiences over the past few years and believe that unregulated poultry litter spreading plays a part in this. I also enjoy using the Potomac River downstream as well as the Chesapeake Bay. The Shenandoah is very far up in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and every pollutant that enters the water here has an effect downstream. I am not asking for an end to the spreading of poultry litter. I believe that farmers and outdoors people who enjoy the rivers of the Shenandoah Valley should accept this legislation for at least a few years and study the effects of compliance with these rules. I think that the outdoors experience and the water quality of the streams will improve without a drastic financial effect on the farms of the area.