A Letter to Ontario Pork

Copy to
The Honourable Helen-Johns
Minister of Agriculture for Ontario

Subject: Mr. Bradshaw's assertion in London Free Press

Dear Ontario Pork,

I read with interest London Free Press reporter John Minor's article, "Booming hog industry breaks records " of December 10, 2002.

According to the article, Ontario Pork's Environmental Issues man, Mr. Sam Bradshaw, was quoted to say, "groups fighting hog barns don't seem to be as active as they were a couple of years ago."

Let me assure you that Mr. Bradshaw's assertion is dead wrong. As more of these terrible hog factories proliferate and continue to pollute our air and water, more opposition to your industry will grow. Do not, for a minute, underestimate the determination and power of the growing number of Ontario citizen groups fighting the unchecked growth of your industry.

For the past two years, our experience along the Lake Huron shoreline contradicts Mr. Bradshaw's assertions that the industry is environmentally responsible. We have seen leaky barns and improper spreading in Ashfield Township, which caused liquid manure to get into the Lake. We have seen cracks develop in a relatively new barn in Kincardine Township. We have seen Elite Swine request from that Township permission to spread more liquid manure than the Township By- law allowed because they were faced with a problem of getting rid of the hog waste before the winter snows arrived. We have seen ordinary ratepayers pack public information meetings and donate financial funds to allow a coalition of concerned citizens to launch a costly legal action against a faulty, approved building permit for a 4000 hog factory in Huron-Kinloss. The building permit was quashed. We have seen operators attempt to undermine the intent of MDS requirements by two- stepping or phasing the construction over a period of time. It is a an abominable loop hole which allows unscrupulous operators to expand closer to residential or other zoned areas.

We know that a barn is being constructed every ten days in Huron County. We also know that most of these are hog barns. We know that livestock around the Maitland River produce 7,610 kilograms of manure per hectare each year, the greatest manure concentration in all of Canada. Second place goes to the Thames River Valley around London, Ontario. Your industry is contributing to Southern Ontario's dubious distinction of becoming the manure capital of Canada.

Ontario's Environmental Commissioner, Mr. Gord Miller, was right to note in his annual report of 1999/2000 that the trend toward agricultural intensification needs to be dealt with as an industrial pollution problem. According to Miller, "Ontario residents have already shown concern about industrial-style operations, and is likely that managing environmental impacts of these operations will be of increasing concern to Ontarians."

If you really want to improve your public image, you should be spending more money to encourage sustainable and environmentally friendly hog raising alternatives to the typical concentrated, animal confinement hog factory that is increasingly dotting the rural landscape of southern Ontario. In areas of intensive agriculture in southern Ontario, nitrate concentrations commonly exceed the Canadian drinking water guideline of 45 milligrams per litre of nitrate in water. This is four times higher than the level known to kill frogs in the lab. The concern about pathogens in liquid manure is an additional major health concern. (antibiotic-resistant genes, cryptosporidium, e-coli etc.)

I personally made the choice to buy and consume only certified organic, range-free pork for my household. Until you adapt alternative technologies that effectively eliminate the adverse effects associated with the spreading of liquid hog manure, you can expect increased public opposition to your industry in Ontario. So far your industry has been fortunate that the many groups fighting hog barns have not coalesced into a single, powerful organization. I suggest to Mr. Bradshaw this will change.

Yours truly,