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Poultry Waste Threatens Water and Soil

Updated: Feb 20, 2020


What's that awful smell? It's offal!


Paddling the Transquaking River
Transquaking River

The Delmarva poultry industry is a key component of our regional economy, and the Friends of the Nanticoke River have long supported this industry as a part of our rural/agricultural way of life. However, there are undeniable challenges for large-scale animal production in maintaining a balance with water quality and soil health.


A necessary by-product of poultry processing is offal – entrails, organs and feathers of animals used as food. This material is “rendered” into components of pet food, but in this process, wastewater that is high in nutrients is produced.


A major rendering facility, Valley Proteins, located on the Transquaking River, has had an application for increased wastewater discharge pending with the MD Department of the Environment (MDE) for over a decade. In the meantime, it has increased its discharges and continues to be a major source of pollution to the waterway. MDE is now requiring Valley Proteins to take concrete steps to reduce nutrients in their effluent.


Algal Bloom Warning
Algal Bloom Warning

The plant also produces a slurry using a process called Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) in which suspended solids in sludge are carried to the surface by air bubbles to form a layer of thickened sludg. This is then trucked to farm fields and added to the soil as a soil amendment.


This practice generates an odor that persists for several days and is reported to cause headaches, nausea, and eye irritation. A 3 million gallon storage tank for this material is being constructed near Rewastico Creek in Hebron, which poses a risk of overflow and spills to that Nanticoke tributary.


The Friends, as do many others, opposes the use of DAF as a direct soil amendment, and we are supporting development of alternative processing to produce a more environmentally benign product. We also support restricting future discharges of excess nutrients into the Transquaking River.







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The Friends of the Nanticoke River is a section 501(c)(3) organization.

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Friends of the Nanticoke River

P.O. Box 15

Nanticoke, MD  21840

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