Activists make their poultry house case in Worcester

Farmers, activists and public health officials made their case Tuesday night for change with new rezoning legislation pending for Worcester County's poultry operations.

County Bill 17-3, introduced by the Worcester County Commissioners on March 21, would put poultry farms into a separate zoning category. Zoning proposals would include limiting the number of chicken houses on a single parcel to eight, creating a 200 foot setback from surrounding properties and mandating a vegetative buffer around every parcel.

READ MORE: New poultry legislation introduced in Worcester

The legislation arrives in one of the state's highest-producing poultry counties. Worcester came in second in the state at 13.2 million chickens on 105 farms in 2012, according to the USDA census, the most recent data. Somerset led the state, at 14.9 million chickens in 2012.

Despite an increase in production, the number of broiler farms declined substantially in the same time frame in Worcester. The decrease from 137 to 99 broiler farms points toward more large-scale operations, according to the same census report.

The conversation isn't new on Delmarva. The change to large-scale operations sparked concern in environmental activists, public health officials and farmers alike. Meanwhile, city officials look at the economic benefits of the farms, and the future of the county without them.

A meeting hosted by the Assateague Coastal Trust was held at the Snow Hill Library on Tuesday. The majority of those in attendance Tuesday were in favor of the new legislation, citing health and environmental concerns. The conversation will continue during the public discussion at the Worcester County Commissioners' meeting on Tuesday, April 25.

Carol Morrison, a former Perdue contract farmer, now an independent pasture farmer, said the large-scale chicken operations in the county have been a cause for alarm.

"This is not farming, farming is meant to be mindful and respectful," Morrison said. "This is an industrial process."

The need for land limitations for large-scale poultry operations is just as much a health concern as it is an economic concern, said Maria Payan, consultant for the nonprofit Socially Responsible Agriculture Project.

READ MORE: Poultry house pollution focus of Md. Senate bill

"I'd argue that 200 feet is not enough," Payan said. "What happens if a pathogen that escapes from one hits another large farm nearby?"

Payan pointed to the 2015 bird flu outbreak in Iowa as an answer to that question. When the virus broke, large-scale poultry farms, located in the general vicinity of one another, passed the virus along from one to another. When the dust cleared, a total of 31 million birds died. With this concern in mind, Payan pointed to the new legislation as a point of scrutiny, that won't necessarily solve a problem of air pollution and environmental risks.

The Delmarva Poultry Industry has not been silent on the matter of being good neighbors. In July 2015, the nonprofit organization released a list of guidelines for management practices that would lessen poultry farms' impacts on surrounding communities. The guidelines suggest a minimum 400 percent setback with a buffer, double the Worcester County proposed minimum.

"In June 2015, the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. Board of Directors was proactive in adopting a set of voluntary guidelines that we asked all chicken companies and owners of new chicken houses to observe be good neighbors," said Delmarva Poultry Industry Executive Director Bill Satterfield, in a statement. "In most cases, the voluntary setbacks we suggested from new chicken houses and property lines or dwellings on adjacent properties exceeded what existed in the county ordinances."

These guidelines, while supported by the Delmarva Poultry Industry, are completely voluntary.

Payan said she isn't convinced that the bill's guidelines will be strictly followed.

"What we'll likely see happen is a company will buy a plot of land, subdivide it and then just place two, eight-house farms directly next to each other, with a buffer of trees in between," Payan said.

Assateague Coastkeeper Kathy Phillips said the environmental concerns of large poultry operations were well documented, pointing specifically to the impacts of nitrogen deposition as a result of ammonia released from farms.

"Look at the state of our coastal bays and waterways," Phillips said. "They are all in poor shape, and we know that poultry operations release ammonia that deposits nitrogen into the water. This is about protecting our waterways just as much as it is our land."

According to a 2009 study by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock production is the leading cause of atmospheric ammonia in the world, which in turn leads to high nitrogen levels in waterways, causing vegetative death and decreased bio-diversity.

In the coastal bays region, most waterways performed poorly, according to the Maryland Coastal Bays Program 2016 annual report. Specifically, the St. Martin's River scored a 15 out of 100 on the Estuarine Health Index, completely void of sea grass and with a nitrogen deposition rate 31 percent above the Clean Water Act guideline. The river's usage is 48.2 percent agricultural.

However, despite the testimonies, some officials are not quite as sold.

Snow Hill council member Mike Pruitt said that diluting the number of farms by forcing them to spread out may only exasperate the problem.

"I think what we have here is a case of we want these things, just not in our backyards," Pruitt said. "I know I don't want to live next to a chicken farm, but it seems like every time we try to fix something, we mess something else up."

Payan, meanwhile, argued that what is happening in Worcester is not the norm, stating that these farms, housing massive amounts of chickens per year, are not the typical family farms that serve as the heritage roots for much of the Lower Shore.

Morrison echoed Payan's sentiment.

"No one here is against farming, least of all me," Morrison said. "But this is not farming."