The Sussex County Council voted unanimously in favor of Bioenergy Devco’s (BDC) conditional use application for a poultry waste biogas system in Seaford.
The council had delayed a vote following lengthy comments from opponents and supporters of the project.
BDC’s digester would be located at a former Perdue site that processed poultry litter for reuse.
Critics, led by Washington, DC-based Food and Water Watch, claimed the digester project was dangerous and bad for the environment. The group typically opposes projects involving natural gas, but usually focuses on hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”
Supporters, including some in the environmental community, said the plant would reduce nutrients getting into the water supply and supply renewable fuel.
BDC is the developer of anaerobic digestion facilities that create renewable energy and soil products from organic material. The digester produces natural gas.
Dover-based Chesapeake Utilities has agreed to truck the natural gas to points in its natural gas distribution system.
BDC’s application will go in front of the Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
