Chicken Dung=Alternative Energy

RESOLUTION: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States. Observation 1: Significance and Harms A.Arsenic pollutes water Virginia Tech, Shreiber 2005 (Virginia Tech-Madeline Shreiber, Associate professor of Geo science, "Geoscientists Follow Arsenic From Chicken Feed To Streambeds", Science Daily, October 12, 2005) In research funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Madeline Schreiber, associate professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech, carried out field and laboratory studies to discover the fate of arsenic fed to poultry. She and her graduate students found that bacteria in the litter and in shallow subsurface soil transform organic arsenic to inorganic arsenic. Organic arsenic is not highly toxic to humans, but inorganic arsenic, with its organic component removed, is toxic. We found that organic arsenic is highly soluble in water and is rapidly biotransformed to inorganic arsenic," Schreiber said. Despite laboratory findings that show a strong adsorption of inorganic arsenic to minerals in the soils and aquifer sediments, a surprising finding from water samples from streams receiving runoff is that low concentrations of arsenic are transported to streambeds instead of being retained by the aquifers, Schreiber said. "We think that the arsenic is adsorbed onto nanoscale particles that pass though our filters and through the soil column," said Schreiber. "This suggests that particle transport is an important mechanism in arsenic cycling in these watersheds." Schreiber emphasized, "All of the arsenic concentrations we are finding at our field site are below the drinking water standards, even below the new standards of 10 parts per billion, which will come into effect in February 2006." B. Arsenic in its inorganic form is harmful to humans Hileman 2007 (American Chemical Society, Bette Hileman Senior Editor of C&EN Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Arsenic in Chicken Production", Chemical and Engineering News, April 9, 2007) In its original organic form, roxarsone is relatively benign. It is less toxic than the inorganic forms of arsenic-arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)]. However, some of the 2.2 million lb of roxarsone mixed in the nation's chicken feed each year converts into inorganic arsenic within the bird, and the rest is transformed into inorganic forms after the bird excretes it. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause bladder, lung, skin, kidney, and colon cancer, as well as deleterious immunological, neurological, and endocrine effects. Low-level exposures can lead to partial paralysis and diabetes. "None of this was known in the 1950s when arsenicals were first approved for use in poultry," says Ellen K. Silbergeld, a toxicologist at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Observation 2: Inherency A.Arsenic limits waste management alternatives Nachman, Graham, Price, Silbergeld 2005(Keeve E. Nachman,1 Jay P. Graham,2 Lance B. Price,2 and Ellen K. Silbergeld2 1Department of Health Policy and Management, and 2Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, "Arsenic: A Roadblock to Potential Animal Waste Management Solutions", May 12, 2005 As a result of these changes in poultry production, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) produce far more waste than can be managed by land disposal within the regions where it is produced. As a result, alternative waste management practices are currently being implemented, including incineration and pelletization of waste. However, organic arsenicals used in poultry feed are converted to inorganic arsenicals in poultry waste, limiting the feasibility of waste management alternatives. The presence of inorganic arsenic in incinerator ash and pelletized waste sold as fertilizer creates opportunities for population exposures that did not previously exist. The removal of arsenic from animal feed is a critical step toward safe poultry waste management. B. Arsenic in feed is currently being used Lilliston 2006 (Ben Lilliston, Author, Bachelor of Philosophy, Communications Director of Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, "Consumers beware: Dangerous Levels of Arsenic Found in Non-Organic Chicken", April 5, 2006) Minneapolis ï¿½ Brand name chicken products sold in American supermarkets and fast food restaurants are widely contaminated with arsenic, according to independent test results released today by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP Arsenic in chicken meat appears closely linked to the decades-old practice of intentionally and routinely putting arsenic into chicken feed. At least 70 percent of U.S. broiler chickens have been fed arsenic, according to estimates. C. Burning would be dangerous Vandiver 2004 (John Vandiver, Reporter, "Arsenic: Chicken Feed Effects Questioned" January 4, 2004) Chicken litter could potentially serve as an alternative energy source, something Silbergeld says could be dangerous."If the levels of arsenic in waste are significant, burning it would be the worst thing to do," she said. Plan: Plank 1: Ban Arsenic in Chicken Feed Plank 2: Cover 50% of building costs in tax breaks for companies for 5 years who invest in chicken dung Plank 3: Use pyrolysis to convert. (More efficient and cleaner.) Plank 4: We reserve the right to clarify our intent Observation 3: Solvency and Advantages A.Banning Arsenic will decrease health threats Nachman, Graham, Price and Silbergeld 2005 (Keeve E. department of health policy and management Jay P. Lance B. and Ellen K. department of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins University, "Arsenic: A Roadblock to Potential Waste Management Solutions" May 12) ttp://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov...... Clearly, actions are urgently needed to deal with the increasing burden of poultry wastes from CAFOs. Existing regulations for animal waste disposal are ill-equipped to address the variety of health threats presented by poultry waste; current policies are focused on nutrient content and, as a result, do not take into account the presence of pharmaceuticals, pathogens, and heavy metals in waste. Animal waste is currently not classified as hazardous waste by the U.S. EPA. If animal waste were classified as hazardous waste, it would be prohibited from land disposal based solely on its concentrations of leachable arsenic (Rutherford et al. 2003; U.S. EPA 2004). Given the problems associated with the hazardous constituents of poultry wastes, land disposal is not a viable option. Many of these problems have been addressed in the European Union, where arsenicals were withdrawn from the poultry production process in 1998. Economic analyses have demonstrated that removal of growth-promoting antimicrobials, such as arsenic, has come at no net cost for the poultry industry [World Health Organization (WHO) 2003]. The removal of arsenic from animal feed is a critical step toward safe poultry waste management. In addition, this step will enhance food safety by reducing concentrations of arsenic in poultry products, a potentially significant source of total arsenic exposure for Americans. B.Chicken Dung as fuel will reduce CO2 emissions Kumar 2008, ( Sameer Kumar Author, Master of Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, "Dutch to power 90,000 homes with Chicken Poop", Sept. 8, 2008) The Netherlands is going to produce power from chicken waste and that too in a scale that would be sufficient to power over 90,000 homes! That pretty much sums up the magnitude of this huge investment the country is making in green energy. Chicken waste has been a problem that has been plaguing many of the North European countries for a long time, and the new project will help the Netherlands turn one-third of the nation's chick