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Matlink Dairy Farm turned to anaerobic digestion for solutions to several problems it faced. Manure generated at Matlink Dairy Farm was stored in a lagoon and spray-irrigated on the ground in March, April and November. The barns are just a mile upwind of the Village of Clymer. The odor from dairy manure handling and spreading on the farm had seriously affected the local community. It is well known that anaerobic digestion is an effective technology to reduce odor from animal waste. |
| Another driving force for the project was to reduce the
potential for nutrients from the manure on the farm from leaching into
the groundwater. The Town of Clymer discovered its public water supply
exceeded the maximum contaminant level of 10 mg/l for nitrate-nitrogen
in 1994. According to the estimate by the Environmental Protection Agency
AgSTAR program, the economic benefits of the installation of a methane
digester would reduce electrical and natural gas purchases by approximately
$41,000 per year. |
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Supported by a $200,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, as writen by the Seneca Trail RC&D Council, designed by RCM Inc., Matlink Dairy Farm started the construction of an anaerobic digester system in the summer of 2000 and finished it by the end of 2001. |
