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| "When an activity raises
threats of harm to human health or the environment,
precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and
effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.
In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the
public, should bear the burden of proof." - Wingspread
Statement of the Precautionary Principle. |
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Manure Spreading on frozen ground
www.creekwebsite.org/NewsItems.htm
Hay Bay Genetics claim they never spread in winter, but
for 10 days in December 2005 almost 1,000,000 gallons of sewage from the
open pit was sprayed and dumped on Lots 32 and 33 Concession BaySide in
Prince
Edward County. Temperatures in the area have been well below zero for the
past three weeks.
The spraying operation started on December 7 and continued on the 8th, 12,
13, 14, 15, 16 of December, then continued on 19, 20 and early 21
December. Spraying/dumping started on Lot 13 on December 22 and
continuing on 23rd. There were snow storms on December 9th, and a major
one on December 16th - both storms were accurately forecast. Snow continued to fall throughout the following 5 days nicely covering
up where they had been.
On Monday 19 December 2005 the wind was blowing about 50- 60 kmph, the
temperature about -6C, the ground was frozen and covered with more than 12
inches of granulated snow which was drifting and causing
whiteouts but they continued spraying the pig sewage. Particulates from
the spray mixed with the snow as it was blown across the field and across
adjacent dwellings in Prinyer's Cove.
This is the sixth (6) consecutive year that spraying of liquid manure has
occurred in the December/January time frame. It has nothing to do with
fertilizing the crops since they do not plant after spreading, it is
simply dumping unwanted effluent from their sewage tank.
The ground is frozen and it is forbidden to spread sewage on frozen ground
yet we consistently see that this pig operation appears to be exempt. It
is time that this behaviour is stopped. There were many fine and good days
from September to end of November when spreading could have occurred
without waiting for cold weather and frozen, snow covered ground. The
excuse that crops were not harvested is a poor one. It is simply bad
management that the owner chose to harvest on December 5 and 6.
Dates of Spreading:
a.. December 15, 2000
b.. January 16-18, 2002
c.. December 5-10, 2002
d.. December 3-4, 2003
e.. December 17, 2004
f.. December 7-8, 12-15, 19-23, 2005
For pictures see our website at www.creekwebsite.org/NewsItems.htm
For list of spread dates www.creekwebsite.org/Calendar.htm
Annette Cepon, Webmaster, CREEK
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East
Hawkesbury passes no ILO bylaw
We have good news to share.
We hope it never gets challenged in
court. If it ever did, it should become a national matter where all
Canadians get together to contribute and support the Corporation of the
Township of East Hawkesbury in fighting all the way to Supreme Court of
Canada to create yet another jurisprudence and serve all Canadians.
The Corporation of the Township of
East-Hawkesbury now has a new By-law in relation to "Intensive
Livestock". After 12 "WHEREAS" comes a "NOW
THEREFORE" the Municipal Council of the Corporation of the Township
of East Hawkesbury ENACTS AS FOLLOWS:
1. For the purposes
of this by-law, the following definitions apply:
a)
"Council" shall mean the Municipal Council of the Corporation of
the Township of East Hawkesbury, and "Municipal Council" has the
same meaning;
b)
"Township" shall mean all lands within the geographic limits of
the Township of East Hawkesbury;
c) "Hog"
shall mean any and all mammals of the family Suidae, regardless of size;
d) "Hog
operation" shall mean the breading, raising, keeping, housing, care,
feeding or maintaining of hogs;
e) "Intensive
hog operation" shall mean an agricultural operation involving the
breeding, raising, keeping, housing, care or maintaining of hogs in
numbers exceeding 500 live animals at any one time;
f)
"Person" shall mean a living human being and includes a
corporation and the heirs, executors, administrators, assigns or other
legal representatives of a person;
2. No person shall
create, establish, own, maintain or conduct, directly or indirectly, an
intensive hog operation anywhere within the Township or any part thereof.
3. No person shall
permit, allow or countenance the creation, establishment, ownership,
maintenance or conducting of an intensive hog operation anywhere within
the Township or any part thereof.
4. This By-Law comes
into force and effect when finally passed.
READ A FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD TIME
and finally passed this 14th day of February, 2005.
Signed by the Mayor and Acting Clerk.
If you would like a faxed copy of the
full by-law, please e-mail me your fax # or address and I will sent it to
you.
Louise Rock
Citizens for the Future and Environment in Eastern Ontario
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Coalition
of Concerned Citizens of Huron-Kinloss
Update October 14, 2004
The
OMB decision based on this past August OMB Hearing in Ripley has been
released. Please see the enclosed attachment. It is, in my
opinion, a significant victory for the Township's position and goes a long
way to alleviate some of the fears of Coalition supporters. Mr.
Culham rejected the Ministry's view that the Township's proposed new
Intensive Agriculture Livestock zone did not give appropriate regard to
the Provincial Policy Statement, did not represent good planning and was a
threat to the agricultural industry.
I
am especially gratified to see Mr. Culham recognize the importance of
providing a window for public scrutiny for future proposed large livestock
operations in our community. If you take the time to read the
decision, you will appreciate the Township's four criteria related to
drainage, groundwater, susceptibility, odour impacts and traffic impacts to
be used to evaluate future intensive livestock applications. It
will, in my view, go a long way to restore public confidence in
the intensive livestock application process.
As
stated in previous updates, I am very appreciative of the Township's position
and efforts over the course of the August Hearing. If you have an
opportunity, please let the Township know how much you appreciate
their efforts to make our Township a better place to live. I
have not yet heard what the Ministry plans to do. They may appeal
the decision at divisional court. I'll inform you if I hear any
news.
You may
also recall that Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner
ordered the Township to hand over, to Ms. Valerie M'Garry on behalf
of the Coalition, the application for a building permit, construction
drawings, a Nutrient Management Plan and Environmental Assessment. These
are required by the Township's manure pits and manure management
by-laws. You will perhaps remember that we decided to go
the Information and Privacy Commissioner route after the
Township refused our request for copies of the above documentation in
the fall of 2002. The documents were ordered to be disclosed by
October 4, 2004. Ms. M'Garry has not been able to scrutinize
the documentation due to her busy work schedule. I'll keep you
informed once I receive more news.
On
a final and sad note, most of you have probably heard the
shocking news about Mayor Gerald Doleman's tragic death last week. During
the August OMB Hearing, I had a opportunity to tell Gerald how
much I appreciated the Township's decision to defend the new
Comprehensive Zoning By-law. Gerald told me he was determined to
bridge the division between parts of the farming and
shoreline community that resulted from the controversial first
"approved" Geene Nutrient Management Plan of 2001. He was
sincere. His ability to listen, his wisdom and leadership will be
missed!
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Coalition
of Concerned Citizens of Huron-Kinloss
Update September 18, 2004
We just received the decision of the
Information and Privacy Commissioner that the Township of Huron-KInloss must
hand over the Geene documentation relating to his approved fall 2002 hog
building permit no later than October 4, 2004. You will recall that
the Privacy Commissioner had previously ordered the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture to send us the Geene Nutrient Management Plan for his approved
3000 hog factory.
According to Coalition lawyer, Ms.
Valerie M'Garry, these additional documents will assist us in evaluating whether
the law has been followed in the process leading up the issuance of
Mr. Geene's 2002 building permit. With regard to the NMP
documentation Ms. M'Garry received from OMAF in July, there is
certainly more detail than was available previously, however, she notes that
the Minimum Distance Separation calculations are still thoroughly inadequate
and possibly inaccurate. In Ms. M'Garry's opinion, the additional
documentation with respect to the Geene application, will assist her in
determining if the Township and Mr. Geene have followed all aspects of
applicable law in the process of the issuing of the building permit.
I cannot say enough how lucky the
Coalition is to have Ms. M'Garry working on our behalf. She has
been successful in obtaining virtually everything we asked for through our
response through the Freedom of Information request. We simply could
not have done this without her expert and detailed submissions. Moreover,
her work on the Coalition's behalf at the recent August OMB Ripley
hearing was exempliary. I'll let you know as soon as I hear any
news of an OMB decision.
John Welwood
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Pigs Move Into
Sarsfield
Orleans Online
March 23, 2004
Two and half years after a Quebec hog producer bought a
farm near Sarsfield with plans to turn it into a 3,000 sow maternity
operation, the first pigs have finally arrived. According to Cumberland
Coun. Rob Jellett, the farm’s owners transported 150 sows onto the
property last week.
“An inspection was undertaken of the premises by staff confirming the
presence of 150 animals which is in compliance with the existing city zoning
bylaw,” says Jellett. “Unfortunately we have no idea at this time how
many more they plan to bring in or when.”
Under an existing bylaw passed last summer, the farm’s Quebec-based owners
Mario Coté and Luc Fontaine, can house as many as 750 sows on the 663
acre farm. The pair originally bought the farm with the intention of housing
3,000 breeding sows on the property.
A bylaw passed by the city last fall limiting intensive hog farm operations
to 125 livestock units or 750 hogs and creating a three kilometre buffer
zone around residential communities preventing future hog factory farms from
setting up shop is being challenged by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Food. The case will likely be heard before the Ontario Municipal Board
next fall.
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Churley
Says Walkerton-Area Pig Barn Must Be Stopped
Ontario NDP Website
Jan 23, 2003
QUEEN'S PARK - The development of new
intensive pig farms that threaten drinking water should be banned as a
precaution against another Walkerton tragedy, NDP Environment Critic Marilyn
Churley and Walkerton-area residents said today.
Churley called on the Conservative government to exercise the precautionary
principle recommended by Justice Dennis O'Connor at the Walkerton inquiry.
"Halt these hog factories and pre-empt the potential for another
Walkerton," Churley urged. “They’ve done it in Quebec, and we need
to do it here.”
Local studies show that groundwater in the Walkerton area moves extremely
fast, carrying contaminants into local wells at an unusually quick rate.
This dramatically increases the risk of bacterial contamination such as E.
coli because live bacteria can enter the drinking water more readily, she
said.
“Justice O’Connor was clear: We must protect water at the source and
make decisions based on the precautionary principle,” said Churley. “The
Conservative government has failed on both counts and these mega-hog barns
prove it. It is unbelievable and very disturbing that the government would
contemplate allowing possible new sources of contamination to develop after
all that has happened.”
Walkerton representative on Brockton municipal council Charlie Bagnato and
Paisley-area farmer Grant Robertson belong to a local citizens group that's
fighting plans for a huge industrial hog barn. It would house 3,000 sows
giving birth to about 70,000 piglets a year.
“The community of Walkerton has experienced one tragedy with its water, we
don’t need another one,” said Robertson, whose farm would be very near
the huge barn. “The manure produced at this operation will contaminate my
well water and threaten the health of my children.”
Bagnato stressed the need for local control. “The government must give us
back the ability to regulate these types of operations,” he stated.
“Provincial legislation doesn’t protect the environment or our health
from these hog operations, and the result will be contaminated water.”
Churley’s Safe Drinking Water Act was the model the Tories used for their
own legislation. But they didn’t act on O’Connor’s other key
recommendation of water source protection so Churley recently introduced her
own Ontario Drinking Water Source Protection Act. [See Backgrounder for more
information.]
BACKGROUNDER: Protecting Drinking Water in Paisley
The proposed intensive livestock operation near Paisley will house 3,000
sows and produce 80,000 piglets annually.
Groundwater studies and expert testimony at the Walkerton Inquiry show that
groundwater in the Walkerton area flows at an unusually high rate through
the fractured limestone bedrock in the area. The result is that contaminated
water travels relatively long distances before the bacteria die.
For example, if the groundwater moved at 500 metres/day (as was shown to be
the case near Walkerton), bacteria that survive a week in the water could
travel 3.5 km.
These conditions pose grave risks to local area wells.
Justice O’Connor, in the Walkerton Inquiry Report Part Two, recommended
that the government take a “precautionary approach” in setting standards
and regulations.
Applying the precautionary principle in this case entails stopping the
proposed pig barn development on the grounds that there is significant risk
to drinking water quality and human health.
(For more information regarding groundwater science, contact Dr. Stephen
Worthington, who provided expert testimony at the Walkerton Inquiry and who
has conducted hydrogeological studies of the Walkerton area. He can be
reached at 905-627-1781.)
Ontario Drinking Water Source Protection
MPP Marilyn Churley’s Private Members Bill 238, the Ontario Drinking Water
Source Protection Act, would protect the supply and quality of source water
in Ontario.
This bill also provides for the remediation and restoration of contaminated
water, as well as the conservation of water to maintain sustainable water
use.
The protections laid out in this act would prevent the development of
intensive livestock operations such as the proposed Paisley pig barn.
For more information about Bill 238, the Ontario Drinking Water Source
Protection Act, visit www.marilynchurley.com
.
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GLENGARRY
RESIDENTS RAISE STINK OVER FARM
The Ottawa Sun
Fri 08 Aug 2003
Page: 18
Section: News
Byline: BY MATT WOOD, OTTAWA SUN
Chants of "No Walkerton here" rang through the town of
Alexandria last night as North Glengarry residents protested against a
proposed hog farm.
More than 200 people marched along Main St., chanting and waving placards,
showing their contempt for a planned 3,000-hog operation just 1.5 km
southwest of Dalkeith.
"We are scared. We don't know what's going to happen," said
Dalkeith resident Jamie McCormack.
The demonstrators said one of the key issues has been a lack of public
consultation on the issue. Organizers of the rally said they learned about
the proposed farm after hearing rumours about it, and didn't receive
confirmation until they confronted North Glengarry Mayor Bill Franklin.
The farm owner has applied for a building permit to convert a dairy farm
into a hog farm. It is now being considered by city officials.
"We were let down," said McCormack. "People we trusted made
decisions without telling us."
Richard Kerr, one of the rally organizers, said the group is hoping city
officials will not approve the building permit the landowner is seeking.
'HEALTH COMES FIRST'
They are calling on the province to declare a moratorium on new Class 4 hog
factories until environmental assessments and health studies are done.
Some concerns with factory farms include how much manure is produced by
animals, how it's spread and the danger of it contaminating drinking water.
Another demonstrator, Gerry Weller, said local residents don't want to see
factory farms in their backyards.
"We owe it to our children to act responsibly. Our health comes
first."
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