West Lampeter Township is being courted by a company that wants to build a $45 to $50 million bug-based anaerobic manure digester system to pump out "green" electricity for up to 30 farms.

In exchange for manure from poultry and pigs, farmers would get free power, free odorless fertilizer and a modest lease payment. Cow manure would not be used, at least initially, because it is often mixed with straw.

Lancaster County — under the gun to clean up nutrient-heavy water being sent to the Chesapeake Bay — would realize a reduction in methane, a greenhouse gas, and a cleansed fertilizer less likely to pollute waterways.

"We see a great opportunity here. We think this will make farming more profitable and natural at the same time," John Vogel of Epcot Crenshaw Corp. told about 100 curious people — mostly farmers — at the township's municipal building Monday night.

Charles Satish Smith, an applied bioscientist from Philadelphia who founded the company last year, said he's been studying manure from the area for several years.

He's built a prototype manure digester in Denmark and he's lined up investors who believe in the cause.

He said West Lampeter is the right place at the right time for demonstrating a better way of disposing of manure.

"This is for farmers," he said, acknowledging that the company hopes to make a profit by selling the electricity from the digester not used by participating farms.

If farmers are able to generate a steady supply of 5 million to 14 million gallons of liquid manure, bacteria would break down the material in an airtight setting, producing methane gas. That captured gas would be trucked to mini-generator stations placed on quarter-acre areas on 30 nearby farms.

Eight to 10 participating farms would be enough to start the project, company officials said.

"To me, the novel idea is you can tell the farmer you won't have to pay electric anymore," said Gerald Heistand, assistant to the administrator of the Lancaster County Conservation District.

Ideally, Smith said, his company and farmers would together form a co-op.

Epcot Crenshaw officials said they are courting Plain Sect farmers and are trying to create arrangements acceptable to church officials.

Though Plain Sect farmers would not be able to use electricity, the methane gas could be used to power diesel generators, according to Smith.

Why West Lampeter Township, far from the most intensely farmed area of Lancaster County?

"We feel very comfortable here," said Vogel, Epcot Crenshaw's senior vice president of business development.

State Rep. Scott Boyd, a township resident, said it was his "pleasure" to introduce Epcot Crenshaw. He said pressure to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and the quest for green energy meant the stars were aligning for "a tremendous opportunity for our township."

The company, which is choosing between Downingtown and Lancaster to set up its corporate headquarters, has looked at five farming locations in the township to locate its central digester location and manure storage facilities.

If the maximum 14 million gallons capacity is reached, the complex would need 20 acres, less if built at a smaller scale.

The next step, Smith said, is to apply to the township for necessary permits, something that should be done by June. Lancaster-based Rettew Associates has been hired to help with the process of getting the permits.

"My dream is that our co-op will demonstrate new best-management practices" that will help make farming more sustainable, Smith said.

He predicts a success in West Lampeter Township will mean the system can be replicated throughout Pennsylvania and beyond.

There are several smaller manure-to-power systems currently in Lancaster County. In addition, county commissioners are researching the possibility of two regional manure digester systems that would take manure from heavily farmed areas of the county.

Not everyone greeted the digester proposal with open arms. A few residents asked pointed questions about additional truck traffic, odors, safety and property values.

acrable@lnpnews.com