'Bio-reactor' to treat manure at Kreider Farms

Can bugs keep a large Lancaster County dairy herd from polluting streams and global-warming gases, and produce electricity to boot?

Yes, says the state of Pennsylvania, which is giving a New York City-based company a $7.8 million loan to do just that on the 2,000-cow Kreider Farms outside Manheim.

"It's really about the bugs," says Jeremy Rowland, chief operating officer of Bion Environmental Technologies. "It's like a waste-treatment plant at the farm."

He refers to the microbe-based facility as a "bio-reactor."

The loan was awarded by PENNVEST, a state agency that awards loans for sewer, storm water and drinking water projects around the state.

Bion hopes to have the manure-treatment facility, its first in Pennsylvania, up and running by fall, Rowland said.

Bion's patented process captures nitrogen and phosphorus so it won't run off fields into waterways, eventually polluting the Chesapeake Bay. Also, ammonia emissions, a greenhouse gas, are captured.

In return for its investment, Bion expects to make money by selling nutrient credits, which can be bought by municipal sewage plants or industries to comply with tougher nutrient limits. Also, Bion expects to cash in on emerging greenhouse gas credits.

Bion's waste-treatment technology has been approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The project will initially handle the Kreider family's large dairy herd. But plans are to expand the facility to possibly serve as a regional intake for manure from other farms and poultry operations, including Kreider's.

Bion's system is different from manure anaerobic digesters that are placed on some farms to control manure odor and produce energy.

The process will produce enough electricity to completely power the treatment process as well as part of the farm's energy needs, Rowland said.

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Copyright © 2009, Lancaster New Era, Pa.

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