Vermont Governor Jim Douglas' (R) administration has successfully obtained an administrative order to shut down Vermont Compost Company (VCC), which is a competitor of his brother-in-law's composting operation, Vermont Natural Ag Products. According to the administrative order, VCC is to cease any and all commercial compost operations and pay a civil fine of $18,000 for operating a commercial operation without an Act 250 permit.
Interestingly, Vermont Natural Ag Products, which operates in a manner similar to VCC, has not been the subject of regulatory enforcement.
Environmental politics have previously stung another major Vermont composting operation: Intervale Compost Products. Vermont House Speaker and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gaye Symington was the development director for the Intervale Center, which is a sprawling landscape of farms, nurseries, and compost operations in the Winooski River floodplain in Burlington, Vermont. Progressive David Zuckerman, who is chairman of the Vermont House Agriculture Committee, operates a farm in the Intervale. In 2007, the Douglas Administration went after the Intervale Center for supposedly farming without archeological permits, discharging leachate from the compost operations without a permit, and construction cold-frame hoophouses in the floodplain without a permit. It is widely believed that Governor Douglas used the Agency of Natural Resources in an attempt to discredit his two political opponents.
The trouble for VCC began when a neighbor of the VCC farm complained directly to Governor Douglas in early March 2008 that she believed the farm was contributing to health hazards. The neighbor, according to Seven Days, is a "top-notch GOP fundraiser who has raised big bucks for Douglas, Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie and others over the years."
According to Shay Totten, who writes for Seven Days, Governor Douglas has played strong role in shutting down VCC:
In her email to Douglas, Johnston states, without offering much in the way of hard evidence, that "many" of Hammer’s neighbors "have seen increased crows, have heard about the rat problem and question if the water supply in the area is being protected by run-off and nitrogen."
Less than a week later, on March 19, Douglas wrote a letter, asking his top environmental official — Agency of Natural Resources Secretary George Crombie — to look into it.
Crombie added his own handwritten instructions to Douglas’ letter and forwarded it to the head of the Department of Environmental Commission, Laura Pelosi. Crombie told Pelosi to coordinate a response between the Agency of Agriculture, Department of Health and DEC. That was March 25.
On April 7 a state entomologist issued a report claiming neighbors were in no danger from the farm or its compost. As for the rats, "There is no evidence to support that the populations are excessive. There is plenty of vegetable matter for them to consume and no need to forage away from the facility."
At that point, Hammer thought he was in the clear. Then, on June 27, came the enforcement order from the Natural Resources Board — chaired by Peter Young who is the spouse of longtime Douglas legal aide Suzanne Young — which has put the future of the Vermont Compost Company in jeopardy.
Over the past six years, the Douglas Administration has cried loudly over and over again that environmental regulations are prohibitively expensive and drive business away from the State of Vermont. The evidence demonstrates that Governor Douglas is more interested in using the weight of bureaucracy to destroy businesses when it politically or financially suits him.
Background on Vermont Compost Company
VCC began composting operations in 2001 and now produces a variety of certified organic compost products using waste food products, chicken manure, cow manure, vegetation, leaves, wood debris, and other materials. The organic compost products are in turn used by a number of organic farms (see below for a short list of farms and nurseries that use VCC's organic compost products) throughout Vermont, New England, and the United States. Growers at farmer's markets throughout Vermont have posted signs in support of VCC. The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont has taken up the cause to put an end to the Douglas' administration's persecution of VCC.
As important as VCC is to growing organic food at small family farms, VCC plays a critical role in reducing the waste stream into Vermont landfills. According to the Times Argus, schools, restaurants, baking companies, grocery stores and the cafeterias from state government buildings and large businesses have kept nearly 2,000 tons of scrap food from entering land fills in the Central Vermont Solid Waste District.
Farms and Nurseries that Use Vermont Compost Company Products
Avalanche Organics - Viola, Wisconsin
Harmony Valley Farm - Viroqua, Wisconsin
High Mowing Seeds- Wolcott, Vermont
Walkup Heritage Farm & Gardens - Crystal Lake, Illinois
Four Season Farm - Harborside, Maine
Vermont Wetland Plant Supply - Orwell, Vermont
Singing Cedar Farmstead - Orwell, Vermont
Golden Russet Farm - Shoreham, Vermont