County official responds to publication critical of manure digester

Dane County Executive Joe Parisi responded Thursday to a report in a dairy industry publication that was very critical of taxpayer-funded manure digesters.

The Brooklyn-based publication, Milkweed, said the Clear Horizons digester near Waunakee represents “everything that’s wrong with the digester technology being pushed by government as a solution to manure management.”

Parisi said there’s nothing wrong with the technology.

“We think it’s mostly the team that’s been operating the facility itself,” Parisi said. “We think with the right team in there that that facility will run just fine, and the overall benefit is much greater than the challenges we’ve had. I mean, it’s frustrating, sure.”

Clear Horizons, the company that runs the digester in the town of Vienna, has been hampered by multiple spills and an explosion last summer.