For Immediate Release

Today, hours before a scheduled state public hearing on the Bioenergy Devco gas plant in Sussex County, Delaware, activists held a press conference on the controversial proposal. A public hearing on the project is scheduled for 6 p.m. this evening. In recent weeks, activists canvassed more than 200 homes near the proposed Bioenergy Devco site. Many residents had not heard about the project from either Bioenergy Devco or the state. Residents expressed repeated concerns about the project’s harms.

“I don’t like the idea of bringing the chicken waste near me and my kids. This gas could bring us harm in many ways,” said M.C., an impacted resident. “I don’t like the idea of so many trucks transporting this gas that could possibly explode close to any of the many kids that walk these roads. And there are many, many kids.”

Activists outlined the glaring shortcomings in the corporation’s environmental assessment, included as part of their necessary permit application materials. The proposed digester is slated to produce 521 million cubic feet of renewable natural gas (RNG) per year — if all of it were combusted, this amount would be comparable to over 31 million pounds of coal being burned, or 71 million miles driven by an average passenger car. Despite this significant climate impact, Bioenergy Devco’s environmental assessment included no mention of the greenhouse gas emissions of the project or its end product.

Bioenergy Devco’s gas plant would provide a market for hundreds of thousands of tons of poultry industry waste. Following the gas extraction process, this nitrate-laden waste is highly water soluble, presenting a serious threat to Delaware’s waterways. A 2022 study found Delaware to have the nation’s most polluted waterways, thanks in large part to runoff from the over-application of poultry industry waste to agricultural fields. Bioenergy Devco’s waste will only exacerbate this water pollution crisis, yet the company’s environmental assessment claims no impact to water.

Greg Layton, Food & Water Watch Delaware Organizer said:

“Factory farms and their waste are a serious threat to our climate and water. So called ‘biogas’ refineries are not a solution here or anywhere. For two years, we have been mobilizing against Bioenergy Devco’s dirty project, which threatens to entrench factory farms and dirty energy in Delaware. The company’s failure to provide a bare minimum environmental analysis of their project’s climate and water pollution are glaring shortcomings. Governor Carney must stop Bioenergy Devco and put an end to this polluting scam in Delaware once and for all.”

“It’s disgraceful that the two closest communities to the proposed Bioenergy Devco project are primarily low-income, minority communities,” said Maria Payan, Sussex Health & Environmental Network and Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. “The Biden administration’s commitment to environmental justice requires fence line communities to have a seat at the table—and that’s not happening in Delaware, the president’s home state.” 

“As the nation’s lowest-lying state, Delaware is uniquely at risk to the increasingly challenging climate crisis,” said Dustyn Thompson, Sierra Club Delaware Chapter Director. “Bioenergy Devco’s proposed plant will generate the exact greenhouse gas emissions that we need to be reducing, with an annual climate impact equivalent to driving a typical car 71 million miles. Bioenergy Devco’s proposed plant is not a small operation — it is an industrial methane production facility and it should not be permitted in this community. We call on DNREC and Governor Carney to oppose the Bioenergy Devco permits.”

“Residents nearest the proposed Bioenergy Devco site are regular working class people who are just trying to survive and secure a safe and healthy future for their children. To place a dirty gas plant in the middle of these communities, overwhelmingly populated with immigrants and people of color, is environmentally racist,” said community advocate Victor Urquiza. “For the safety of all the residents of this community, I urge Governor Carney to stop Bioenergy Devco’s biogas project and say no to biogas — here and everywhere.”

Press conference recording available here.

Contact: Phoebe Galt, [email protected]