DENTON — New Caroline County legislation that aims to mitigate irresponsible storage of food processing residuals is set for a public hearing in early August.
On July 9, the Caroline County Commissioners introduced an emergency bill that will create a permit process in order to store food processing residuals. It creates limitations on how residuals can be stored and permits the county to fine violators.
If passed, it would require closed-top storage tanks, going a step further than state regulations passed during this year’s General Assembly. House Bill 991, which took effect July 1, created a state permitting process under the Maryland Department of Agriculture for the use, storing and hauling of the residuals.
“You should also bear in mind, MDA is not renowned for its enforcement,” County Attorney Stewart Barroll, who drafted the bill, said at a July 10 Planning Commission meeting. “And this is a county. We can’t enforce MDA regulations. We can enforce county ordinances. And so having it in here is belt and suspenders.”
The Planning Commission, made up of five members including County Commissioner Travis Breeding, narrowly passed a favorable recommendation for the legislation on July 10. Breeding and Chair Jeff Jackson voted yes, Vice Chair Hannah Cawley voted no, and commission member Keith Bilbrough abstained. Member Roger McKnight was not present.
“In my personal opinion, the state has done an excellent job putting something together,” Cawley said. “And if it were up to me … I’d like to see how far the state gets with theirs and then make amendments on the county level.”
Bilbrough asked for more time and information, adding he wasn’t “necessarily opposed.”
After the favorable vote, the bill is set for a public hearing on Aug. 6 at 9:15 a.m. in the Denton Health & Public Services Building.
In that same building in January, the county commissioners heard from a record crowd of more than 150 people on the storage of dissolved air floatation residuals, a type of food processing residual. That and subsequent meetings led the county to place and later extend moratoriums on the storage of residuals. The moratoriums last until this fall but may be replaced by the permit bill at hand.
Three new amendments to the legislation were added during the July 10 Planning Commission meeting: food processing residuals cannot be mixed with other substances in storage containers, the county will no longer request an applicant’s nutrient management plan, and language concerning temporary storage is adjusted to “mirror” state regulations.
The Planning Commission heard opposing views from local industry and environmental leaders.
Holly Porter, executive director of the Delmarva Chicken Association, asked the planning commission to not vote favorably. She believes the county bill is “25 pages of confusion” and will negatively impact farmers and businesses who responsibly store food processing residuals.
“I have repeatedly been told that Caroline County does not have the resources to enforce the bad actor that’s out there, and yet now we have the resources to create a permitting scheme, that again, repeats and is more onerous than the state’s,” Porter said. “Caroline County has the ability to make text amendments right here with the zoning table of use regulations.”
Matt Pluta, Choptank riverkeeper for ShoreRivers, and Alan Girard, Eastern Shore director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, each spoke in support of the bill.
“I don’t think the size of the bill really matters,” Pluta said. “I think it’s how effective the bill is … I do think this bill does a really good job of making sure the county is taking control of what they are responsible for.”
Girard questioned if the fines outlined in the legislation — $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for a subsequent one — were too relaxed.
While the planning commission was split on whether to recommend the amended bill, Breeding said the commissioners agree on the need to crack down on open-top storage tanks.
“The sentiment of the commissioners is it needs to be closed-top storage,” Breeding said. “Because there’s nowhere in this county that you’re not going to store this stuff and have an adverse effect on a neighbor.”
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