Nov 28, 2005 9:29 AM, from staff and wire reports

Poultry producer Foster Farms has received two awards for its voluntary efforts to help protect California’s water resources and environment.

The Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) program recognizes leadership and contributions in conserving California’s resources. This award recognizes the significance of a joint project between Foster Farms and the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD).

The company also received the POWER Award from Public Officials for Water and Environmental Reform. This annual award honors companies implementing programs that serve as models to others and provide answers to water issues.

Both awards were the result of the company’s success in finding a way to dispose of one million pounds of organic waste per week from its poultry processing facilities. In collaboration with EBMUD, a process has been developed that generates electricity instead of using it.

This partnership enables Foster to ship its production waste to EBMUD, where it is processed using anaerobic digestion technology. The key byproduct of this disposal procedure is methane gas that is then used to generate electricity to meet the needs of 4,000 homes each year.