At the Tuesday, June 2, County Commissioners Work Session, representatives of the Lancaster County Center of Excellence in Production Agriculture (LCCEPA) addressed the Commissioners to describe the recent activities of their organization. The discussion ultimately focused on environmental issues, with water quality taking center stage.
The LCCEPA is funded by the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board and staffed by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. The group’s mission is to “assure that the agricultural community in Lancaster County advances its competitive position in the global economy through a wide array of existing and new programs that enhance the competitive advantages of local businesses and contribute to the success of the local economy.” Recently, the Center opened a new initiative called the Lancaster County Center of Excellence in Renewable Energy (ERE). EPA Executive Director Scott Sheely describe the purpose of the ERE as follows:
“We’re beginning to coordinate a variety of activities…. Part of the problem right with energy is that everybody wants to grab a piece of what’s coming down the pike. And we’re saying, ‘that’s fine, we’re not wanting to influence or change anybody’s participation, but what we’d really like to see is coordination so that we’re not duplicating programs and everybody knows what’s happening.”
Concluding the presentation, Ag Services Manager Gary Willier called for a County-wide push to improve the cleanliness of the water that Lancaster sends to the Chesapeake Bay:
“I think the efforts that we can make to meet the requirements of the Bay and, more importantly, to work with the water quality of our individual watershed areas and different localities, can really best be served by a County effort. And I would ask if we could work together with you [Commissioners]….There’s a lot to do, in particular with the smaller farms….I would ask, as we look to the future, that we don’t let this Bay effort get fragmented into little pieces.”
Commissioners Lehman and Stuckey echoed Willier’s sentiment regarding the importance of water quality improvement. As Lehman put it, “Water quality is just such a huge issue, not just for agriculture, but for Lancaster County as a whole….To me, water quality has to be one of our top-burner issues both today and going forward, because it isn’t going to get any easier going forward.” Lehman encouraged the group to return to the Commissioners with further direction on this issue.
Willier asserted that the County’s “Chespeake Bay solution” will ultimately lie in dealing with our water quality here at home: “I think we have the potential for a real win-win situation if we start with water quality. If we don’t take some leadership, the Bay is going to be the focus. That’s what’s driving all the regulations. But the best way to clean up the Bay is to clean up the local water before it gets there.”
