About 40 people gathered at St. Albans Bay yesterday for our founder Tim Camisas press conference on toxic blue-green algae blooms, and how Vermont Organics can help. Local legislators, farmers, municipal officials and members of the Vermont media came to hear Tim make a passionate statement, posted here below. And, yes, it is worth scrolling and reading. (Photos: Jennifer Williams) --- --- --- --- Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming. My name is Tim Camisa. I am the founder of Vermont Organics Reclamation (VOR), a business here in St. Albans, just a short drive from this bay. Vermont Organics buys manure solids from farmers, and, with its unique recycling system, turns them into a commercial line of organic soils that are sold nationally. Yes – Vermont Organics pays Vermont farmers for their manure, so that we can export their extra phosphorous, and help keep this lake clean. This is how Vermont Organics fits into this ongoing conversation about toxic blue-green algae blooms, and their impact on us all. But I did not invite you here today to discuss my business. I asked you here to offer some answers. First, I want to tell you about a black and white photo that hangs from a filing cabinet in my office. It’s a picture of me, swinging my tennis racket during The Green Bay Classic – a tennis tournament held here, on St. Albans Bay, in mid-summer, when “green” is typically the color along this shore. What’s jarring about this photo, however, is that it was taken 35 years ago. And although The Green Bay Classic is long gone, that name could still hold true today. During my last 12 years at Vermont Organics, I have gained a unique, insider’s perspective on toxic blue-green algae blooms, because I’ve worked hand in hand with government and farmers on this distressing issue. That said, and considering the intense blooms we’ve had here in Franklin County this summer, I will say this: Through my research and experience at Vermont Organics, I’ve observed that farmers should stop relying on the policies and practices posed by government for years, and start considering new ideas. And I emphasize the word “new” quite strongly. Because for the last year or so, through public conversation, a lot of us that care about the future of the lake have heard more of the same: practices that are meant for the land to hold more manure, and hold back runoff. Fencing cows out of streams. Eroding gullies. Grassed waterways. While these practices are an important part of the solution, and they do matter, we have spent millions and millions of taxpayer dollars on doing them over and over for decades – and we have evidence that the blooms are getting worse. It’s time to talk about something new. It’s time to talk about removing that phosphorous before it even reaches our precious land, and reclaiming it as something useful. There was lots of excitement recently when our U.S. agriculture secretary visited Vermont with $45 million to help clean up the lake. And what ideas are we hearing for this money already? More of the same: attempting to hold the pollutants back, while maintaining the status quo. That is no longer acceptable, and there is nothing else to study on this matter. Prominent USDA researcher Andrew Sharpley, of the Natural Resource Conservation Services Agricultural Water Quality Division, said it in a report 25 years ago, and it stands true today: manure density is a problem, here and elsewhere. When I testified on this issue in Montpelier last March, I learned during someone else’s testimony that Vermont has little if any follow through in the execution of nutrient management plans. So I’d like to propose third-party verification of manure spreading and phosphorous removal on Vermont farms. I do not – do not – envision this as a regulatory tool. Instead, I see this as a way to answer three important questions: 1. What’s the amount of manure that needs to be spread for a healthy level of phosphorous in crops? 2. How much is on the farm? 3. What are we going to do with the rest? If this sounds like a structure similar to the nutrient trading program in Chesapeake Bay, so be it. Let’s put it on the table. We have to start somewhere, because we’re getting nowhere. Ask anyone that has a camp, home or business on this bay, this summer. Or on Missisquoi Bay. Or Lake Carmi. We’re getting nowhere. And it’s getting worse. That said: I’d like to ask the public to educate itself about this issue, because – no matter where you live in this state – it will eventually affect you. Somehow. So please do something. Join a local watershed group. Watch what your neighbors are doing to improve water quality. Share your ideas – especially new ones. And, probably most important, insist that your government do something about phosphorous removal and recovery. And to my friends the farmers, we respect your work, and I subscribe to the adage: “No farms, no food.” I will conclude today by telling you why I started Vermont Organics: In summer 2001, I was at my father’s lakeside house on St. Albans Bay, with my children. It was hot. They were sweltering. They were young. They wanted to be in the water. “I’m sorry, but you can’t go in the lake,” my father said. My kids were confused. “Come see why,” he said. The water along his property – and along all the properties near his – looked as though someone dumped buckets of green and blue paint into it. Thirteen years later, it’s more of the same. Let’s not meet here again 13 years from today.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 20:52:18 +0000
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