Directors' Blog

A Response to Criticism of The Shorekeeper's Letters About Poultry Farming

From President John Ordeman

Note: This letter was published in the Mar. 16, 2011 edition of The Eastern Shore News.

To the Editor:

Several statements in recent letters to the News concerning Dave Burden's op-ed pieces on industrial chicken farming were, in several instances, misleading, and I believe clarification is warranted.

The letter writer stated that Dave assumed the “arbitrary title” of Shorekeeper and that he is a “self-proclaimed protector of the environment.”  Dave is, in fact, the employee of Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, (VES), a 501(c)(3) local affiliate of Waterkeeper Alliance, an international conservation and environment protection organization.  His title is Shorekeeper, and it is Dave's responsibility to be “the public advocate and ombudsman for the tidal waters of the Eastern Shore” and “to seek solutions to water-quality problems associated with agriculture, aquaculture, recreation and other industries.”  It was in fulfillment of those responsibilities, and with the approval of the VES board, that Dave wrote the op-ed articles that warned the public and county officials of the potential danger to our creeks and coastal waters posed by waste from chicken houses – manure and discarded nutrient-enhanced feed – if it is not disposed of in an appropriate manner.

The letter writer asked, “What is Burden's educational or professional designation that enables him to lecture the Farm Bureau or anyone else about their responsibilities as land stewards?”  His professional “designation” is , of course, his position as the VES Shorekeeper.  As for education and experience, Dave, who grew up on the coast of South Carolina, majored in in environmental science at the University of Virginia, and he has attended a number of  seminars and training sessions dealing with conservation and ecology since his appointment as Shorekeeper several years ago.  He came to the Eastern Shore in 1999 as a partner of Bo Lusk and Peter Stith in establishing SouthEast Expeditions, a kayak outfitting and guiding business that emphasizes environmental education.  Bo and Peter have moved on to other positions that focus, respectively, on environmental issues and community planning; and Dave is now the principal in the business, which has expanded under his management. He served a term as a Northampton County Supervisor and was elected first vice-president and then president of the Northampton County Chamber of Commerce.

Dave has not, as the writer implied, proposed any changes in the current Northampton County zoning regulations, which allow industrial chicken farming by right; nor was he lecturing the Farm Bureau or anyone else.   In his two op-ed pieces, he simply stated that the operations of chicken houses should be carried out in such a manner that there would be no detrimental consequences for water quality and the aquaculture industry, a not unreasonable concern considering the reported harm that has been done to the environment in other communities.

I urge those of you who did not see Dave's statements in the News, and who may, therefore, have been misled by the implications and inaccurate statements in the letter to which I am responding to read what Dave actually wrote. You will find Dave's well-reasoned, well-informed op-ed pieces, as well as other information about the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, at our website: www.shorekeeper.org.

John T. Ordeman

President, Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper