Dane County is moving ahead on a new manure digester. Dane County Exec Kathleen Falk says the county faces challenges: how to keep the lakes clean while growing the dairy industry and providing a source of good jobs. “We’ve taken all those challenges, and in this case one of the answers to them is a manure digester,” Falk said following Dane County Board approval of the twelve million dollar project Friday night. Milwaukee-based Clear Horizons will own, operate, and partially finance the digester. The rest of project will be paid for through bonding through a federal stimulus program, and the state will contribute another $3.3 million.
“We’re taking the phosphorus out of the manure which keeps it out of our lakes and rivers,” said Falk. “Our hope here is that this digester which we will break ground on just month from now will be replicable across Dane County, across Wisconsin, across the midwest.”
