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April 28, 2005
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** April 19, 2005 Manitoba's 'Conceptual' Plan to Regulate Phosphorous won't While the Manitoba government has endorsed the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board's interim recommendation to regulate phosphorous (P), and in particular, phosphorous from livestock manure, early indications suggest that the excessive over-application of phosphorous will continue to be accepted as a 'normal' farming practice. This assessment was released today by the newly formed group, Citizens for the Responsible Application of Phosphorous, following a meeting with Manitoba government officials on April 9, during which the province's 'conceptual plan' for phosphorous regulation was outlined. The Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board has identified phosphorous loading as a major water-quality concern. "The regulatory thresholds for P that are proposed by Manitoba Conservation are definitely not going to solve the P transport problem into surface waters in Manitoba, including Lake Winnipeg," Carberry farmer and group member Alan Baron said. "Should Manitoba proceed with it's 'conceptual plan,' farmers, particularly factory farmers, will be able to continue with the practice of disposing their excess phosphorous onto fields," Baron noted. "At the highest threshold proposed by Manitoba Conservation, it would take 40 years of cereal crop production to remove the residual phosphorous off that field," he said. Group member Ruth Pryzner, a councilor in a Rural Municipality near Brandon, noted that "by itself, this proposed standard will compromise local efforts to protect water resources, including drinking water supplies." "But when considered in light of the forthcoming changes to the Planning Act - which we have been told are being designed to 'implement the intent' of Bill 40 - the proposed phosphorous standard promises to be a recipe for disaster," she said. Bill 40 would have eliminated the current Conditional Use permitting process for Intensive Livestock Operations (ILOs) and severely limited municipal authority to place restrictions or prohibitions on local ILO development. Last November, Intergovernmental Affairs and Trade (IGA&T) Minister Scott Smith withdrew the Bill, in the face of intense, province-wide popular opposition. At an AMM Municipal Officials Seminar held in Brandon in March, which ryzner attended, IGA&T Deputy Minister Linda McFadyen outlined the Government's latest Planning Act proposals, due to be tabled in the Legislature this Spring. "In her presentation, Ms. McFadyen stated that the Conditional Use process would be retained, but that the Provincial Government would 'severely restrict' the types of things Municipalities can control and concerns people could speak to in the hearing process," Pryzner said. "The local voice, the public voice, will effectively be silenced with these changes," Pryzner noted, "There will be very little, if anything the public can do to protect their water." McFadyen indicated that the Province is seeking to take control over environmental matters and to eliminate the authority municipalities currently have in regulating the environmental and health impacts of ILOs. "Forced reliance on inadequate provincial standards, such as the one proposed for phosphorous, will leave rural people vulnerable to pollution, particularly from factory farms," Pryzner said. Members of Citizens for the Responsible Application of Phosphorous will present their concerns to the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board at a public meeting this afternoon in Brandon. -30- For further information contact: Alan Baron 834-3274 (home) 841-1313 (cell) |