County Regional Environmental
Evaluation KO-Alition
NEWS ITEMS - December 2005

"I never spread in winter" - Davis, Hay Bay Genetics.

Dumping Pig Sewage on top of Pig Sewage

Pig Sewage Pooling in the field.

Outflow from Cressy Swamp into Lake Ontario December 23, 2005

It took only a few days after start of dumping sewage when the surface ice started to change colour and the area is now growing every day (coincidence?)

Hay Bay Genetics never spreads 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:

• December 15, 2000
• January 16-18, 2002
• December 5-10, 2002
• December 3-4, 2003
• December 17, 2004
• December 7-8, 12-15, 19-23, 2005

End of moratorium on hog production

The Liberal government threatens the social climate in rural Quebec

Saint-Hyacinthe, December 5, 2005 – An important coalition of civil society groups denounces the end of the moratorium on hog production on December 15th, and accuses the Charest government - which is about to authorize new hog mega-barn projects against the recommendations of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) - of acting irresponsibly and threatening the social climate in rural Quebec by allowing increased pollution of its ecosystems.

  These organizations stress that the BAPE submitted to the government in September 2003 a lengthy report on the sustainable development of hog production, after having heard over 9,000 persons and received almost 400 position papers. The President of the Commission, Louise Boucher, indicated: “It would be dangerous, from a social point of view, to end the moratorium before concrete action is taken”, going so far as to invoke a crisis in rural Quebec if decision-making on hog production did not undergo a review.

“In authorizing new hog mega-barns, the government presents municipal representatives and citizens with a fait accompli. We foresee worse disruptions than last time because people feel they have been had. The BAPE agreed with them and yet, nothing has changed”, deplores Gilles Tardif of the Coalition citoyenne Santé et Environnement. “Environment Minister Thomas Mulcair has become the minister of hog development”, adds Tim Yeatman, of the  CRMQV, who states that in municipalities like Saint-Cyprien de Napierville and Richelieu, citizens have just elected candidates who campaigned against hog mega-barn projects.

The coalition is infuriated by the fact that the government is ignoring the recommendations of the BAPE on environmental protection and health hazards. “The Liberal government seems unaware of pollution risks, despite clear evidence to the fact that the spreading of manure from hog production is not sufficiently controlled to avoid the pollution of waterways”, explains André Bouthillier of the Coalition Eau Secours. 

“The present regulation does not take into account the fact that many watersheds in agricultural areas are already degraded and their waterways polluted by municipal effluents but also, for the most part, by the sheer density of the animal load and the vast tracts of land under cultivation in wide-spaced rows, which demonstrates our inability to control pollution at the watershed level”, stresses Harvey Mead of Nature-Québec/UQCN.

“The agro-industrial management model of animal waste based on slurry management* is at the core of the problem”, believes Benoît Girouard of the Union paysanne. He adds: “It is of the utmost importance that we find viable alternatives, not only for farmers but also for all citizens. In the end, it is the image of Quebec agriculture as a whole  that is tarnished”, he concludes.

Coalition members therefore invite Premier Jean Charest to take over and force Minister Thomas Mulcair to redo his homework and apply the recommendations of the BAPE on hog production. They ask him to maintain the moratorium on hog production until there is a framework in place that Quebeckers feel can adequately protect their environment and their agriculture.

 
Signatories: Eau-Secours, Union paysanne, Coalition Citoyenne Santé et Environnement, Nature-Québec/UQCN, Greenpeace, Union des consommateurs, Fondation Rivières, Comité Richelois pour une Meilleure Qualité de Vie, the FAPEL, AmiEs de la Terre de l’Estrie, AmiEs de la Terre de Québec, Association pour la Sauvegarde du Lac St-François, Projet RESCOUSSE/La Prairie, Front vert Montréal.

The mayors of the municipalities of St-Charles, Richelieu, Irlande, St-Aurélie de Beauce, St-Cyprien de Napierville, Elgin and St-Jean sur le Richelieu

Comités de citoyenNEs STOPPP de Pintendre/Lévis, RESPIRES de Ste-Croix de Lotbinière, St-Pierre de La Rivière du Sud, CŒUR de Ste-Gertrude/Bécancour, Coalition Rurale du Haut St-Laurent, Communauté Mohawks de Kahnawake, St-Aurélie, St-Pierre de la Rivière Sud, Autre Monde Rural de Sorel, St-Marc/Richelieu, St-Bernard de Lacolle, Johanne Leclerc and Thomas-Louis  (small hog farm in La Malbaie)

* Slurry: a mix of animal waste (urine, feces) and water, mostly composed of liquids. This is due to the large amount of water used to clean the floors where waste accumulates. Given that it is stored in pits, slurry develops in anaerobic conditions, which leads to fermentation and the production of strong odours. About a hundred components produce bad odours; among inorganic matter, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide.

-30-