I feel compelled to respond to Dr. Bill Louda’s inaccurate comments attributed to me (“Wellington Work With Haulers Is Important,” Letters, Sept. 4). I did not dismiss the firm of Eco Green that was referenced. In fact, I met with them repeatedly. The comments that the doctor did not seem to understand are this: while we do establish best practices (BMPs) for the storage and disposal of manure, we cannot require the farms to dump, tip, donate or dispose of their agricultural product (manure) at any one location.
I am not the difficulty here. I do not make state laws, but alas, we must all abide by them. If I owned a horse, or if the municipality owned a horse, we could make that decision. We can establish the rules for safety and environmentally responsible disposal/storage of manure. We have worked with any and all ideas regarding this. I am very pleased with the progress that has been made in the use of manure, and I would be even more pleased to announce the uses Dr. Louda seems to endorse. It is just that we cannot direct the manure to any one particular location. The producers (farm owners) have the right to do that, not the municipality.
I would imagine a research professor could be very useful in influencing the state laws on this, and would hope that one would focus on the problem and solutions. Blaming me for pointing out our legal limits on this is not helpful, but I appreciate the continued conversation toward environmentally sound uses that will hopefully continue to be developed.
Anne Gerwig, Wellington Councilwoman
Let the owner deal with this crap. The village don’t need to deal with it.Not our problem.
Dr. Louda is a self-important academic who views issues without benefit of knowing what exists in the real world. It seems he has been educated beyond his intelligence.