The Maryland Department of the Environment is hearing from citizens about regulations on the state's chicken farms.

Jessica Forres reports on what people said at Chesapeake College on the Eastern Shore…

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Mark McCready raises chickens in Preston, Maryland and he's frustrated by requirements for some poultry operations to plant vegetative buffers, properly store manure and permit state inspections as of January first…

I THINK WHAT THEY'RE DOING FIRST OF ALL IS ILLEGAL. NUMBER TWO IT'S MISREPRESENTATION, NUMBER THREE, THERE"S NO SCIENCE TO WHAT THEY ARE DOING, THEY'RE JUST PICKING ON PEOPLE AND I'M TIRED OF IT.

Robert Ballinger, with the MDE, says the new rules would affect about 2-hundred of the state's 8-hundred chicken farms…

WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE NUTRIENTS AND PHOSPHOROUS THAT ARE RUN OFFS FROM CHICKEN LITTER THAT MANY FARMERS USE ON THEIR FIELDS DO NOT RUN OFF INTO THE BAY.

Chicken farmer McCready sees it differently, saying farmers have done their part to preserve the bay…

I'LL KISS YOUR BUTT ON THE COURT HOUSE SQUARE AND GIVE YOU AN HOUR TO DRAW A CROWD IF I'M THE ONE POLLUTING THE BAY. THIS IS RIDICULOUS.

The final public hearing takes place in Frederick this afternoon.

Jessica Forres WAMU 885 News