Fertilizing Our Land

Letter from Ed Pcolar, Cabot Creamery Cooperative Sr. V.P of Operations (PDF)

No, while it was first permitted in Vermont in 1990, the program was based on successful applications in the Midwest that have been in use for more than 30 years.

“Monitoring the land application of dairy processing washwwater for more than 20 year has proven this approach is sound. There have been no violations of the Vermont Water Quality Standards when the dairy processing washwater is land applied in accordance with the restrictions of the permit.” —John J. Akielaszek, Section Chief/DEC

(Please reference 2012 Permit Amendment Testimony)

Our landspreading program has always been regulated by the State of Vermont under an Indirect Discharge Permit (IDP) from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR.) All team members for our landspreading system are licensed and trained by the state.

Cabot supported a series of six stakeholder meetings. The first meeting took place in November 2015 and have continued through 2016 and into 2017. Representatives from six environmental interest organizations and local government were invited to participate.  All had raised concerns during the public hearings surrounding the Cabot’s IDP permit. The process provided a forum for the stakeholders to articulate concerns regarding the sprayfield and land application programs, and for the Creamery to share additional information about their operation. In sharing this information, the work group was able to make substantial headway in identifying and evaluating possible management alternatives that both satisfy stakeholder concerns and appear feasible to implement.

Landowners choose to enroll for the irrigation and soil-enriching nutrient value of the washwater on the fields. All fields in the program are certified by an approved, outside engineer. Spray rates are based on characteristics of the specific fields. Cabot is required to enroll reserve acres equal to 120% of actual acres needed. Cabot maintains a fleet of six vehicles for spraying washwater. Our state certified drivers have 93 years of collective experience.

No, landowners are not paid.

The washwater from our dairy manufacturing facilities consists of 99.4% water and 0.6% solids. Most of the solids are from the dairy products. Less than one-tenth of 1% of the washwater is from cleaning agents. All cleaning agents are approved for use with food products and are regulated by the Food & Drug Administration and are measured in dilution rates as parts per million.

“The Agency does not have evidence of hazardous compounds based on concentrations which would be considered toxic. There have been no environmental catastrophes. Rather, the concentration of the substances which were detected are below drinking water Standards. One function of water treatment is to make water suitable for drinking. Drinking water standards have been established by the State and Federal Governments to determine what constitutes suitable for drinking. Even without treatment, the constituents that have raised concern on the part of the commenter are present in levels which, if they were present in a drinking water source, would meet the drinking water standards.” — John J. Akielaszek, Section Chief/DEC

Please reference the 2012 Permit Amendment Testimony.

The most recent toxic scan included testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as these have been detected in certain regions of the State in recent years.  Chemicals containing PFAS are not utilized at the creamery and PFAS were not detected in the washwater.

Our discharge permit allows for spreading washwater in the fall, winter, and spring at one-half the rate we spread in the summer. These cautious volumes ensure no run off from frozen fields.

According to all environmental evaluation and study, including Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, the upper Winooski River would not ever be able to assimilate treated wastewater from the town and the creamery. This was true in the 1980’s and it is still true today. We have investigated every waste treatment technology that is developed or proposed. Landspreading remains our best option.