Last week, "Fair Game" detailed negotiations between the Intervale Center and the administration of Gov. Jim Douglas that, in the end, could severely restrict farming and gardening at the 179-acre site.

As we went to press, news broke of another Vermont composter that's come under the state's not-so-green regulatory thumb.

Montpelier-based Vermont Compost Company and owner Karl Hammer face an $18,000 fine for not having an Act 250 permit. In an enforcement order issued June 27, officials with the Natural Resources Board ruled that Hammer is bringing in too much waste from off site and processing it at his farm, thereby necessitating a permit.

The order, which must be approved by a judge, requires that Hammer remove buildings and compost from the property - a hefty and costly chore. If the NRB order is approved, Hammer would have to shut down operations, even if he applies for an Act 250 permit.

Hammer believes he doesn't need the permit because much of his composting is connected to his farm, and Vermont farms are exempt from Act 250.

Shutting down Hammer, who has 10 employees, would have a huge ripple effect on agriculture in Vermont. Vermont Compost's customer list is a who's who of sustainable ag in Vermont and the country. Many of them are featured in the current issue of Vermont Life, the state-supported quarterly. The magazine's summer issue, titled "Our Food, Our Farmers," profiles 15 people who have turned Vermont into a food "Mecca."

Food writer Marialisa Calta frames the story this way: "Vermont is in the midst of a culinary and agricultural awakening. A spectrum of Vermonters - consumers, food producers, policymakers - are making a connection between food and land, food and community, food and taste and health."

Full Story: http://www.7dvt.com/2008there-s-something-rotten-vermont-compost-fair-game

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