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Witnesses urge Vermont to endorse local 'rock dust' black shale to capture phosphorus and support farmers
Summary
Witnesses and industry representatives told a legislative committee that locally sourced black shale rock dust can capture soluble phosphorus, improve soil health, and serve as a fertilizer filler; they asked the state to endorse the material for best-management practices and consider funding or credit mechanisms to create a market.
Tom Vanapar, who identified himself as a witness from Bridgeport, told a legislative committee that local quarry byproducts—particularly carbonaceous marine "black shale"—can be broadcast on fields to capture soluble phosphorus and improve soil health. "We could actually, capture phosphorus running to the ditches, retain it on the surface of the product," Vanapar said, describing field trials run with University of Vermont extension staff and a university professor. He said the trial material was produced at local quarries and that soil sampling before and after application showed a meaningful reduction in phosphorus transport over one winter season.
Vanapar said his team entered the Vermont Phosphorus Innovation Challenge and reached later rounds of the competition,…
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