Bion Announces St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators' Vote to Establish Task Force for its Integrated Agriculture Project in Upstate New York
December 6, 2007. New York, New York.
Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: BNET) announced today that on Monday, December 3, 2007, The St. Lawrence County (New York) Board of Legislators voted 12 to 2 that the "Chair will appoint a task force" to monitor and "address adequately the environmental, economic, and community concerns" and "to develop further detailed information and report back to the Board of Legislators" as the proposed Bion integrated livestock Project of 84,000 head of beef cattle and a 42M gal ethanol plant is developed.
As referenced (below) in the St. Lawrence County ('SLC') Resolution, Bion's Integrated Project will be subject to numerous State and Federal regulatory requirements, such that:
"... Bion will be required to undergo further review and meet stringent requirements set by State and Federal Agencies for final permitting of its facilities, and
... as part of those requirements Bion officials will complete six New York State approved CAFO['s] applications that address the impact of an additional 84,000 cattle, in St. Lawrence County, and will complete a nutrient management plan required by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and facilitated by the Soil and Water Conservation District,"
Beyond meeting these statutory requirements, Bion is also committed to mitigating nuisance odors to levels that meet or exceed those called for in the previously reported air quality study led by Dr. Phil Hopke, Ph.D., of Clarkson University.
Bion wishes to express its gratitude to the SLC Legislature for holding public meetings for its project to be discussed by the community in an open forum. Bion understands and acknowledges the depth of concern regarding the potential environmental impact of its Project on the community. Bion treats all resources - air, water, nutrients, and energy - as finite. Its technology platform is dedicated to preserving the integrity of the environment, as well as optimize the initial utilization and reuse of resources. Examples of this commitment in Bion's SLC implementation plan include:
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock by approximately 600,000 tons per year - the equivalent of eliminating the GGE emissions from 60,000 cars - as well as air emissions including ammonia.
- Proposing to locate the ethanol plant in close proximity to the St. Lawrence Seaway so that its substantial water requirements can be met with water from the Seaway as opposed to depleting the local aquifer, upon which the local farming community depends.
- Virtually eliminating the nutrient impacts to water by capturing the 'waste' nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) responsible for excess nutrient runoff.
- Producing approximately 1,600,000 MMBTU's per year (MCF equivalent) from the proposed 84,000 beef cattle waste stream. This cellulose based renewable energy resource will initially be combusted to provide the thermal energy input to produce ethanol, replacing the need for fossil fuels and substantially improving the energy efficiency of the ethanol production process. As advanced cellulose conversion technologies evolve, this energy source may be converted to synthetic gas to replace natural gas or bio-diesel to power the vehicles of tomorrow.
Bion's goal is to create Projects that are both environmentally and economically sustainable and that bring value to the surrounding communities where they are located. Bion's state-of-the-art integrated livestock/biofuel facility will be a significant contribution to SLC, helping the County to establish itself as a model of modern sustainable agribusiness, both in the State of New York and the Nation.
Mark A. Smith, Bion's President, stated, "It is our goal to be not just good neighbors - but great neighbors. Bion is committed to developing a non-transferable industry in SLC that represents the best of modern-day agribusiness and creates quality jobs that will stay here and be filled by members of the community. Our vision is for a Project that will improve the overall quality of life for all of SLC's citizens and businesses, which will also come to include Bion and its employees."
As part of its continuing policy of providing transparency and open communication regarding its Project, Bion will create a website (by early 2008) that will allow residents of SLC to communicate their questions and concerns. Bion will respond on the website, creating a transparent medium intended to facilitate reasoned communication and understanding regarding the Project. Bion has requested a copy of the questions posed at last Monday's public meeting regarding its proposed project and will initiate the discussion process by addressing these questions on the website. Notification of the website's activation will be disseminated through the local news media.
About Bion: Bion's patented technology platform largely mitigates the environmental impacts of livestock facilities, such as dairies and cattle feedlots, and significantly reduces the acreage required per animal. The technology enables a substantial increase in scale, resulting in economic advantages and increased profitability through improved resource and operational efficiencies.
Bion's technology creates the opportunity to develop sustainable integrated agriculture operations, comprised of large scale livestock operations balanced with highly-efficient biofuel production, in locations that maximize market opportunities. These state-of-the-art facilities incorporate onsite production and use of co-products - renewable energy produced from the livestock wastes and the distiller grains from the ethanol process - and produce significant advantages in environmental, energy and economic efficiency. For more information, see Bion's website: www.biontech.com
This material includes forward-looking statements based on management's current reasonable business expectations. In this document, the word 'potential', 'will', 'proposed' and similar expressions identify certain forward-looking statements. These statements are made in reliance on the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, Section 27A of the Securities act of 1933, as amended. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could result in actual results differing materially from expected outcomes.
For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.biontech.com, or contact:
