Parents of Twin Valley School District and Residents of Caernarvon Township are uniting together in opposition of an industrial biogas plant, or anaerobic co-digester, being proposed to Caernarvon Township Supervisors by Vanguard Renewables. This co-digester is to be built along Route 23, less than 2,000 ft from Twin Valley High School, Twin Valley Middle School and Twin Valley Elementary Center. This co-digester will combine manure and industrial food waste to produce renewable natural gas (RNG). 90% of the material put into the digester will be industrial food waste that will be trucked in from unknown locations and facilities. PA has very lenient government regulations on testing the industrial food waste - which means many toxic chemicals, microplastics and PFAS (i.e. forever chemicals) could be present in the sludge. Once the methane has been removed from the co-digester, the liquid and solid digestate will be spread on farm fields in our community (and potentially surrounding counties).

Risks to our community far outweigh any small monetary rewards to one local farm! This industrial biogas plant will bring potential contamination to our water - most of the local community are on well systems, including one or more of the schools that neighbors this property. There are also stream entrances below the property that flow into the Conestoga River.

Air pollution and odors are also likely to foul our air. Biogas production releases toxic air pollutants like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, ammonia and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), all of which can cause negative health impacts. Many of these chemicals are highly flammable and there are reports of digesters exploding. Improperly managed digesters, especially co-digesters, are prone to noxious odors that have made people feel ill.

The transportation of the industrial food waste, methane and digestate may also create many traffic problems and infrastructure demands on the main road that runs through our town and to our schools. The congestion will increase substantially and operations of the co-digester will be six days/week, roughly 6A-6P M-F and half day on Sat.

Additionally, added methane pipelines, odors and environmental risks will likely create property value depreciation.

This will be only one of seven co-digesters/industrial biogas plants operated by Vanguard Renewables in all of the United States. There are no tried and true processes developed for these types of projects. The plan being presented to the township is full of discrepancies and holes, with major parts of the plan not being transparently communicated, in writing or verbally. To our understanding, no environmental impact study has been done or submitted. The air quality test did not pass. The traffic study was flawed.

We, the parents of children who are or will be attending one or more of the three surrounding schools, as well as, neighbors and township residents without children in the Twin Valley School District, have joined forces and raise our voices in opposition to industrial biogas production in our community. We believe in balancing the need for renewable energy solutions with the imperative to safeguard our natural resources, our property rights, and the well-being of the residents who call this place home.

We support responsible agriculture that is rooted in accountability for its practices and impacts on members of the community and our shared environment. We understand that being a good neighbor means we support each other and we actively work towards a better future for all of us, not just a few. We care about our children's health and their future. We care about our shared waters and air. We care about our public health and safety. We value our property rights that guarantee the investments we've made in homes will not be taken by the decision of a local farmer and multi-national corporation to build an industrial biogas plant in our community. 

Sign this petition to support the OPPOSITION of the Kurtland Farms/Vanguard anaerobic co-digester!

**We have been asked about the donation requested by this petition hosting website - this donation does NOT go to supporting the actual opposition campaign. If you make a donation to Change.org, none of the proceeds go to the operation of our campaign. If you would like to make a donation to our campaign, please visit our FB page (Stop the Twin Valley BioDump) for our GoFundMe information.