Local residents of Chester County in Pennsylvania took up a portion of the Nov. 17 New Garden Township Board of Supervisors meeting to levy verbal attacks on American Mushroom Institute President Rachel Roberts and local mushroom growers for what they deemed as negligence on the part of the agency and the industry to properly address a growing concern for the impact of composting and fertilization on the quality of air and water in the region.
Appearing at the meeting via Zoom, Roberts gave a summary update that closely aligned with a press release AMI delivered on Oct. 21 announcing that in an effort to improve air and water quality emanating from area mushroom farms, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) is undergoing two pilot assessments at an undisclosed farm in New Garden Township. One is the installation of a carbon-activated geomembrane tarp that has been placed over a lagoon at the farm and is designed to capture and reduce hydrogen sulfide emissions during the composting process.
Roberts said that the tarp – estimated at $35,000 – is designed for small farms who conduct their own composting.
The second study involves the use of a nanobubble treatment system – whose cost of purchase and installation is $2 million - that is designed to lessen odors, improve water quality and compost aeration and assists in the reduction of phorid fly populations through enhanced oxygenation.
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