Guest Editorial: Passion & Pollution http://www.southcoasttoday.ca/content/guest-editorial-passion-pollution I am happy to see the passion from so many people regarding the pollution of SW Nova Scotia and I would like to give some background for SCT readers. I am the spokesperson for Tricounty Watershed Protection Association. Almost seven years ago approximately 250 concerned citizens of Yarmouth County met at the Carlton Firehall and formed a group to find out why our lake and river water was green. John Horton ( an ex school teacher) was one of the people who paddled up rivers and streams and waded through mink poop to find the source of the pollution. This group consisted of ordinary people most of whom have lived here or were raised here and have come home to retire. Many did not live on waterfront but wanted to preserve the lakes for their families to enjoy.We were fortunate enough to have some professional people who were able to lend their expertise, a geologist, lawyer, science teachers, doctors, nurses, (these people work in the community) some retirees whose experience ran from government workers, realtors, retailers, hospitality and tourism and a sprinkling of just about any other job you could think of including the mink industry. When the Fur Farm Regulation are in force in 2 1/2 yrs, we will have been fighting for this cause for a decade. As most of you know, Yarmouth has heavy unemployment, so raising money to fight this cause was not easy. When $20 is coming out of your grocery money it is not easily given. One family spent $10,000 of their own money to hire a environmental lawyer, another family gave $6000, and we raised additional funds... everyone gave what they could. Rallies were held with hundreds of people attending, government of all levels including Dept of environment and Dept of Agriculture attended our power point presentations showing the extreme pollution. There were pictures of hundreds of mink carcasses thrown in wetlands, our members were wading thigh deep through them. Pipes of disgusting black stuff being drained into the waterways. Samples were exhibited, pictures shown etc. Dept of Agriculture Minister John Macdonnell seemed caught off guard and showed what we thought was genuine concern. He stated in front of 250 people not another license would be issued until there were some regulations in place and left for Halifax. He later denied he ever made the statement and the number of mink farms to the best of our knowledge has now almost doubled The Dept of Agriculture is the biggest supporter of the industry and also regulates every aspect including giving taxpayer money for loans, licensing, inspections and implementing the regulations. They also have the power to give extensions to the industry if they choose to do so, if the farmer cannot comply with regs in 2 1/2 yrs. This is a conflict of interest. Environmental groups such as the David Suzuki Foundation, Sierra Club, Ecology Action Centre, all wrote letter expressing their deep concerns. Stakeholder meetings were held 3-4 times with Dept of Agriculture employees to have input on proposed regulations. Countless emails and letters. Hundreds of hours were volunteered by members to assist in getting enforceable regulations. Virtually none of our recommendations were included. In fact the second draft bore no resemblance to the first draft and the final draft that is now the regulations is even more watered down with no consequences for violations. Meetings were held with local Municipality of Yarmouth Council..lots of concern no action. WE had CBC TV,and newspaper coverage locally and in Halifax several times. Still no action..everyone was very concerned except the Dept of Agriculture. We warned other counties about what was happening here. They weren't interested because it was not happening to them...now it is. In our area the pollution is primarily coming from the head waters of three rivers located in other counties and runs downstream into Yarmouth County. There are about 45-50 farms all in very close proximity to one another with about 70% of all the mink in the province are raised there. According to our latest info there were about 2,000,000 mink pelted last year. The most polluted lakes are closest to the headwaters...the exact opposite of how pollution generally works. Usually headwaters are clean and the pollution is picked up from industry as it flows through various communities. Cyanobacteria is a huge health concern to everyone in the world except our NS government, they do not even post the lakes to stop swimming, or inform the public. Boiling the water does not work and treatment systems do not remove it. The YMCA Youth Camp, in operation for over 50 yrs, closed down because of algae on the lake When I read the comments from some about people from away only caring about making money, and why aren't we doing something about it, and what whiners they are, I felt some clarification needed to be made. Most people from our group are from here, not that it should matter. I personally am from BC but decided to retire here after visiting on holiday. The people were fantastic and scenery outstanding and we could afford a small home across from a lake. I live in a very modest 105 yr old drafty farm house, and we love it, except for the pollution of course. We cannot swim in, or fish in, or inhale vapour from the lake. In fact your dog should not drink it. Still the the govt does nothing. We brought our retirement money here, pay taxes, hire locals to fix our house, spend our hard earned money in the stores, volunteer in the community and have no children to impact schools etc. We invited our friends and relatives to come here and visit, and they in turn they spend their money at restaurants and tourist attractions. We support our community. The members of our group have given tirelessly of themselves for years for no other reason than to protect SW Nova Scotia fresh water and possibly protect you from this pollution. Please join us in this fight. Julia Bancroft Mink Regs: The “Scoop on Poop” Approximately five years ago
residents of Yarmouth and surrounding areas joined
together and formed the Tricounty Watershed Protection
Association to stop the pollution being caused by mink
farms at the headwaters of the Meteghan, Sissaboo, and
Tusket Rivers. The Department of Environment conducted
water tests in ten lakes and 75 km of the Tusket River
for three consecutive years. The final water test
results concluded that the mink farms were the probable
cause. The government cancelled further water tests and
no action was taken despite the protests from citizens
and environmental groups. The NDP government held
consultations with us, the stakeholders, and the fur
industry to help develop regulations for fur farms - in
spite of the fact that existing environment laws could
have been enforced to stop the pollution.
Our primary concerns were the disposal of manure, urine, carcasses, surface water runoff going into the river and lakes, set backs from wells, adjacent properties, watercourses and the lack of inspections by the Departments of Agriculture and Environment and the high phosphorous levels that caused blue-green algae to grow and contaminate our waterways. We suggested that bonding insurance be purchased by these industrial farms and a substantial increase in fees to be used to pay clean up, monitoring, and spills. We also were concerned about the close proximity of the farms in such a small area along the water, and the over saturation of the soil with urine and manure. Our final concern was the secrecy surrounding this industry and the lack of transparency of the fur industry, and government to the tax payer who fund them. There were two drafts proposed for the fur farm regulation. The first draft was very promising and we felt that many of our concerns had been heard. The second draft bore no resemblance to the first draft and we had a meeting with government and once again voiced the same concerns. It would appear we have wasted our time and effort because nobody was listening. The fur farm regulations that have now been passed into law are watered down even more and have no real defined consequences such as fines for non-compliance and would appear to be un-enforceable. Almost none of our concerns were addressed. The regulations state manure must go to a facility approved by Nova Scotia government but two lines down says it can be composted on the land. Urine collection is not addressed at all for existing farms and continues to seep into the ground under cages. The scientists we contacted tell us the phosphorus levels allowed by the regulations are too high to stop blue-green algae from growing. The regulations say that carcasses must be frozen until disposed of at a NS Environment approved disposal facility, but in the next sentence onfarm composting is allowed. On-farm composting can be used be dispose of waste feed, with the "suggestion," that waste feed cannot be put in the woods or in manure. This is a major seagull, filth fly, stink and rodent issue. Even if composting is done according to regulations, the phosphorus levels will be far too high for land application. The regulations say water testing is to be done by someone independent from the farm: this is far too vague. Monitoring should be conducted regularly by a certified professional. The set backs required by the regulations are dismal. The regulations state solid manure storage, open shed mink shelter or a on-farm compost site can be as close as 50 metres from the property line, and uncovered liquid manure can be stored as close as 50 metres to a well. The regulations state there will be a committee “Fur farmers" can appeal to if they wish to contest a charge. It is made up of a MINIMUM of 4 people: a professional agrologist, an environmental inspector, 1 fur industry rep, and 1 community rep. The quorum for this panel is one person. To me, this means there could be a very unbalanced number representing any of the four interested parties. And a quorum of one?? And what recourse is there for "citizens" to make their case or get redress for contamination? The regulations say there will be ONE officer to monitor the 99 farms, that we know about, and it is my understanding there are dozens with of new license waiting to be approved. The regulations also don’t address the animal care, size of cages, and vet services including the humane killing of the mink. These regulations should have been the solution to our pollution issues; instead we have a document about licensing and fees. It is mostly selfregulating with one man The minister of Agriculture,who is the biggest supporter of the mink industry at the helm. We may be no better off than before the regulations were in place. Now fur farmers have permission to continue to pollute the same as they have in the past. The Dept of Environment did not do an adequate job in the past and is not likely do any better in the future. This is another example of the NDP consulting with stakeholders and ignoring the advice they sought. The most positive thing about these regulations is at least there is something written down and we can start our fight to change them. Tricounty Watershed Association, Julia Bancroft tricounty.julie@gmail.com P.S. (PoopScoop): .As of 2010 there were about 2,000,000 mink and fox in Nova Scotia pooping 40 lbs per year per animal. YOU DO THE MATH. Where is this manure going to go??? Continue with letter.....pdf format |