Environmental politics

It's not yet up there with motherhood, apple pie and the flag, but it's hard to find people who will say a discouraging word about compost.

[anonymous]

You need to be a little more clear about which matters ANR is involved in and which ones ANR (not Act 250) is not involved in. You seem to be mixing ANR and Act 250 up. ANR is NOT involved in the Vermont Compost Co. matter. ANR has issued an exemption determination to Vermont Compost. It is Act 250 that is prosecuting the case against Vermont Compost Company, not ANR. These are two very different Vermont agencies with very different roles and responsiblities.

All this said, what you missed is that the Governor's brother-in-law Bob Foster also rents land from OMYA for his farming operations, so Governor Douglas has alot of personal interest in not going after OMYA.

[offended vermont]

your "story" is completely inaccurate and misleading. Act 250 and ANR are totally separate form each other statutorily. They are completely separate regulatory entities. OMYA has spent 2.5 million dollars doing research required by the ANR and approved by the neighbors, Vermont Compost and Interval have only spent money on public relations and avoiding permitting. Foster Brothers operation is a model for the rest of the state and is fully complaint with all applicable regulations....unlike Interval and Vermont Compost..
do some research next time....you are a hack....

[Disappointed]

"offended VTer" has it right. It's unfortunate that the media repeatedly and irresponsibly seeks to turn this into a conspiracy. Read and understand Vermont's environmental laws before you write this garbage. The Foster farm does not even fall under Act 250 jurisdiction. Therefore they are not required to obtain an Act 250 permit for their operations. The Intervale and VT Compost on the other hand do require an Act 250 permit due to the way they operate. They do not have the required permits. Therefore they are in violation of VT's environmental statutes. The purpose of the Act 250 process it to allow parties affected by a commercial operation to be heard during the permitting process. All these two operations had to do was to seek the proper permit and go through the process and they wouldn't be in the situation they now find themselves in. Try living next to one of these operations for a week, without a voice, while crows and gulls drop trash all over your property and maybe you'll feel a little differently.

[Cathleen]

Sign me up!