[vc_row 0=””][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text 0=””]Direct treatment of livestock waste, while it is still concentrated and before it has a chance to contaminate downstream ecosystems, can save U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars in annual costs to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin, and in the many smaller watersheds where excess nutrients are an issue. Moreover, the low-cost improvements available at our largest livestock production facilities represent high-impact solutions that can help speed the recovery of these watersheds.
A 2014 study by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Economic Benefits of Cleaning Up the Chesapeake Bay, estimated the value of the land and waters of the Bay region, prior to implementation of the 2010 TMDL, at $107.2 billion annually. Further, the study estimated that a cleaned-up Bay would be valued at $129.7 billion annually. Comparable or larger numbers could be expected for the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin/ Gulf of Mexico.
A new national strategy that adequately addresses all of the pollution sources in a watershed will greatly improve water quality and ecosystem health throughout the watershed, accelerate cleanup efforts, and dramatically reduce costs.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text 0=””]
The Bay’s declining grass beds are a bellwether of its health and provide critical habitat for the iconic blue crab and several species of fish. Improved water quality will allow the beds to return to historic levels.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text 0=””]Bringing sustainability to the livestock sector represents a win for the environment, the consumer and the industry itself. The industry is under attack for its environmental impacts from a wide range of detractors and competitors. Cleanup is inevitable, but complicated; the industry is not regulated under the Clean Water Act and its margins are thin.
Bion’s technology platform provides low-cost high-impact solutions to the industry’s environmental and public health issues AND delivers substantially better efficiencies and economics simultaneously. In other words, the benefits/ value from treatment, more than offset the cost. That is the key: how to pay for cleanup. The industry has to clean up. An increasing circle of stakeholders understand this need, as well: federal and state policies are evolving to encourage and fund livestock waste cleanup. Many in the industry are ready to be engaged and support these changes.
Bion is a recognized leader in both technology and policy development in this transformation and stands to be a central player as it unfolds. Bion’s 3G technology was designed to not only clean up the environmental impacts of large-scale livestock production and recover high-value coproducts and renewable energy that increase revenues to the farmer, but also to deliver a USDA-certified sustainable product to the consumer. Bion’s 3G tech platform can provide a pathway to true economic and environmental sustainability with ‘win-win’ benefits for at least a premium sector of the $175 billion U.S. livestock industry, its consumers, and the environment.
Treating livestock waste at its source promotes environmental health throughout the watershed and generates a wide range of benefits to local ecosystems and communities that cannot be achieved through more difficult and dilute downstream treatment.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″ el_class=”sidebar-text”][vc_single_image image=”1103″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black”][vc_column_text 0=””]The Chesapeake Bay provides habitat that supports a wide variety birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. Improved water quality promotes biodiversity that is key to ecosystem health.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator 0=””][vc_single_image image=”1105″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black”][vc_column_text 0=””]Striped bass are a mainstay of the Bay’s commercial and recreational fishing industries. Their populations have suffered steep declines as a result of reduced water quality and habitat loss.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator 0=””][vc_single_image image=”1169″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black”][vc_column_text 0=””]Oysters, another iconic Bay species, have also suffered steep population declines. Oysters are an important part of the Bay’s commercial fishery and play a critical role in the Bay ecosystem.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator 0=””][vc_single_image image=”1106″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black”][vc_column_text 0=””]Water quality has a significant impact on waterfront property values and tourism.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator 0=””][vc_single_image image=”1107″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black”][vc_column_text 0=””]From recreational opportunities and a better quality of life to increased business and employment activity, improved ecosystem health provides a wide and diverse range of benefits.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”tp-aboutus”][vc_column el_class=”board-text”][vc_separator 0=””][vc_empty_space 0=””][vc_row_inner 0=”” disable_element=”yes”][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1430198809910{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-position: 0 0 !important;background-repeat: repeat !important;}”][vc_column_text 0=””]
Excess Nutrients
A Global
Challenge
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”999″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black” onclick=”custom_link” css_animation=”appear” link=”/excess-nutrients/”][vc_column_text 0=””]US EPA calls excess nutrients the greatest water quality problem in the U.S. today. Dead Zones, toxic algal blooms, and contaminated wells and aquifers occur throughout the U.S. and the world with more frequency and scale… read more[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1430198544765{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text 0=””]
Bion Platform
Cost-effective
Technology
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”1001″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black” onclick=”custom_link” css_animation=”appear” link=”/bion-technology-platform/”][vc_column_text 0=””]Bion has developed and proven its technology platform that provides comprehensive environmental treatment of livestock waste and recovers valuable nutrients, energy and clean water from the waste stream… read more[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1430198821886{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-image: url(https://bionenviro.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/tp-pattern11.png?id=1200) !important;}”][vc_column_text 0=””]
Win-Win Solution
Local and Downstream Benefits
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”1002″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black” onclick=”custom_link” css_animation=”appear” link=”/benefits/”][vc_column_text 0=””]Treating livestock waste at its source creates dramatic savings in downstream compliance costs and produces local economic and environmental benefits that cannot be achieved through downstream treatment options… read more[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1430198561557{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text 0=””]
Policy Change
New Clean Water Strategy
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”1003″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”black” onclick=”custom_link” css_animation=”appear” link=”/policy/”][vc_column_text 0=””]Escalating clean water costs and declining overall water quality indicate current policies must change. A new strategy based on transparency, accountability and cost-effectiveness has to be implemented… read more[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]