It has been more than eight years since passage of the Poultry Waste Management Act of 1999.  And yet the waters of the state, especially the Shenandoah River and the Chesapeake Bay, continue to be polluted by nutrients, despite additional efforts such as funding for agricultural best management practices and sewage treatment plants under the Water Quality Improvement Fund and federal programs. 

Currently agricultural land comprises only 29% of the drainage basin of the Chesapeake Bay but it contributes 58% of the nitrogen and 82% of the phosphorous polluting the Bay, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program.  While the Virginia Pollution Abatement program requires nutrient management when applying  hog, sheep and cattle waste, regardless of who owns the land, in the case of poultry only the growers are required to have nutrient management plans when they apply on their land; other end users are asked to volunteer to be responsible.  Most of the neighboring states have agricultural requirements that are  more protective of state waters than those in Virginia.

The poultry waste management law provides that the program may reflect “such other provisions as the Board determines appropriate for the protection of state waters.”  Va. Code 62.1-44.17:1.1.  Now is the time for the Board to use that authority to establish rules to require nutrient management plans from the end users of poultry waste and thus afford additional protection to state waters.

Even prior to the passage of the Poultry Waste Management Act of 1999, state officials have known from Virginia Tech studies that excess amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus have been applied on land throughout the Shenandoah Valley and that higher concentrations appear on farms that do not grow poultry. Studies by Dr. Shaw Yu at the University of Virginia also revealed that over 60% of groundwater wells in Rockingham County were contaminated by levels of nitrate high enough to contribute to blue baby syndrome. 

In recent years, while there has no study to link poultry waste to the fish kills in the Shenandoah River, something has gone terribly wrong in the that river, and a heretofore important sports fishery has been devastated.  In addition, the Chesapeake Bay continues to suffer from phosphorous concentrations. While sewage treatment plants are undergoing upgrades to reduce their contribution, additional safeguards from agricultural users are also needed.

Poultry litter contains high levels of phosphorous.  While the Waste Management Law requires that poultry growers have a nutrient management plan, those who receive poultry litter from the growers and apply it to fertilize their land are not currently required to have a nutrient management plan.  According to agency studies, more than 80% of all poultry litter is transported off site for land application with the Shenandoah Valley being the prime region for this type of transfer.  Moreover, Virginia Tech’s three-year program of soil testing finds high concentrations of phosphorous in samples. 

Currently, a poultry litter fact sheet is distributed to end users, but this informational and voluntary approach is insufficient to ensure that less phosphorous is applied.  Because of the high cost of nitrogen fertilizers, it is more economical for off-site users to use poultry litter.  While crops will benefit from nitrogen fertilization, the excess phosphorous is not taken up by plants but concentrates in soils and thus leads to increased phosphorous in leachate and surface runoff. 

DEQ should promulgate a rule requiring all users – growers and non-growers – to use a nutrient management plan that will capture phosphorous.  It should more closely track the requirements under the Virginia Pollution Abatement statute for hog, dairy and sheep facilities.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment and please let us know when a regulation is developed for public review.