Over the next several months, federal and state agencies will study the effects of a litter-fueled power plant in the Valley.

Members of the Shenandoah Valley Poultry Litter to Energy Watershed say turning litter into fuel would be cost efficient.

Currently, poultry litter is used as a low-grade fertilizer for nearby farms.

It can also be used as protein in feed for some livestock and it can be turned into energy.

There are currently several power plants in the United Kingdom and the United States using poultry litter as their primary source of fuel, which can later be used for electricity and heat.

On Monday, about 70 people gathered at the Department of Environmental Quality in Harrisonburg to discuss this topic.

It was an exploratory meeting to discuss the major elements for the scope of the study.

The Shenandoah Valley is the poultry capital for the state, so meeting attendees want to see if this is environmentally and economically feasible.

Hobey Bauhan, the president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, is a part of the committee working on the scope for the study of the feasibility of a poultry litter power plant in the Valley.

"The Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts envision utilizing litter for alternative uses, but also continuing to use litter for land application according to environmental best practices," says Bauhan.

They're trying to see if we even have enough poultry litter to make this sustainable.

"We want to see it continue to be a valuable asset for poultry growers and for farmers here, but also to explore economically feasible, environmentally sensible, alternative uses such as waste to energy or litter to energy opportunity that's out there," says Bauhan.

Still, poultry litter power plants opponents Lee McWhorter and J.D. Cave say, while they're happy they're doing this study, they think there's much more to consider.

"Two national parks, the Shenandoah River, the Luray Caverns, five universities maybe, Bridgewater College, Mennonite University, and you want to ruin all of that with get five megawatts of power? There's got to be a better way of doing that," says McWhorter.

"My guess is that the majority of folks sitting in that room don't think this is the answer. Some do, I think the majority do not," says Cave.

Cave, a member of the Page County Board of Supervisors, says he thinks this is a "cart before the horse situation," because he doesn't think they've involved any local governing bodies, through which they'd have to get a permit before moving forward.

This isn't the first time a proposal to build a litter-fueled power plant has been discussed in the Shenandoah Valley.

Last year, Fibrowatt wanted to build a plant in Page County.

It was later dropped after many residents opposed the idea, citing negative environmental impacts.

State officials are looking at the Shenandoah Valley as a possible location because of the large number of poultry farms in the area.