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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-01-04, Page 8PAGE EIGHT 4 • `3 Act Play Holyropd Hall January 14th at 8;30 p.m.. •THE LUSO W SENTINEL, LJ'J l OW, ONTARIO LUCKNOW , A L(ANE REID • PHONE `528.2011, SHOE REPAIR ,..... SKATE SHARPENING n °r WEDNESDAY, JANIJ4RY 4. 1978 SUPPORT YOUR , HOCKEY TEAM • ollution and erosion problems concern uron (noun BY HENRY HESS . ' The brief warns against propos- , ed solutions 'ethat mightn add ,illarmers in Hutron County: are :greatly to a famer's production vitally concerned with problems.. )f pollution and erosion and want to see ` them ' brought • under control: They are equally-concern- ed; quallyconcern-ed, however, that the proposed solutions .not make the business of agriculture any Jess viable. These interlocking positions form the , core of the Huron -- Federation -4. of ' . Agriculture's tHFA) brief to 'PLUARG (Pollu-. tion from Land Use Activities Reference Group), a group study,- -ing problems ,of pollution ,in the Great Lakes basin. PLUARG, a subgroup . of the International Joint Commission ( IJC) established by the , United. States.. and Canada to legislate pollution controls ,in the basin, was .set up in 1972 , to make recommendations to the IJC. It will be disbanded next year ' after • presenting its %findings to the Commission, which will then'pass' new legislation controlling lake, pollution. - Farming ...is being blamed for sediment and phos- phorous reaching the lakes. Farmers are eager to find ways to lessen pollution from their operations, the brief says. It notes they derive their livelihood direct- ly .from they. environment . and consequently have a "very spec- ial 'interest" in , any pollution in the region,. `As , agriculturalists we are vitally interestedin preventing the loss of prime agricultural land for ,any reason," . it adds ,urging immediate research into .feasible , ways 'to minimize soil erosion and pollution of foodlands. LUCKNOW CHRISTIAN REFORMED. CHURCH . ev. L.' Van Staalduinen Pastor SUNDAY, JANUARY 8T11 Services at 10:00.a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Listen to the Bank to God,Hour Message of Today CK,$ Wingham, 10:30 a.m. Radio dial 920; LUCKNOW AU SITED CHURCH Rev. Doug Kaufman Minister , SUNDAY, JANUARY,8TH 10:00 a.m. Sunday School 11, a.m. Morning Worship Sacrament of Lord's Supper Nursery provided, for pre-school children Sr, Congregation for 5 •,8 year old children costs...; "Farmers seem to find ,themsel°ves in a perennial cost - price squeeze,'. it notes: Conse- qujently the public sector must be prepared to. shoulder at least part of - the cost of any proposals requiring major cost of production increases or ' large : capital expen- ditures. • "If our capacity to produce: food in . Canada ° is crippled, whether from pollution-; erosion,or'unreas- onably restrictive regulations aimed at curbing these, .we will soon find ourselves at the mercy of foreign food sellers," it cautions, noting 40 percent of the gross national produce isrelated to agriculture. ' Neither do farmers want to be saddled with all the , blame' for problems that' -are shared. 'with others. "Pollution from non-farm sources must be given equal ' attention," the, brief urges. Industrial fallout,includes such toxic substances as PCBs, sulph- ur dioxides • and ozone - which eventually find their- way into the food chain, - it notes, and points out . that the new Ontario Hydro plant at Nanticoke, one, c.l the world's largest power stations, has f ,no desulphurizing --equip menta It also points out agriculture is not the only ,human= activity, ,causing erosion. Other causes - include road construction., cottage and subdivision ' - 'development; gravel pits, mining, forestry, operations and intensive recrea- .tion. ' Road salt, it adds, is becoming a major contaminant,in KINLOUCH PENTECOSTAL CHURCH .. Paste Gilbert Van. Sligtenhorst SUNDAY, JANUARY 8TH 10 a.m. Sunday School 11 a.m. Worship Service 7:30 p.m. Evening Service Midweek Prayer Service Wednesday at 8 o'clock C.A. (Young People)' Friday at '•8:00 p.m.. LUCKNOW 0 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . a INTERIM MODERATOR Rev: Robert Armstrong Phone Wingh am . 357-2072 • GUEST SPEAKER Rev, R. .McCallum g SUNDAE', JAN Y`BTII . 10:00 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 aim. Morning Worship EVERYONE WELCOME this, region: '"The federation makes anumuer of suggestions on steps ' to 'be taken to' 'reduce erosion and pelletiOn°. These include: making , one , ministry or '-department responsble for looMg' after ,soil erosion problems; introducing courses in soil erosmnd conservation into universities. and .. colleges; conducting research into.. reclaiming and' purifying sewage for use -as, fertilizer; developing new crops and cropping practices suitable for Ontario . growing nditions; and retaining.: forest cover and 'swamplands through a program`: of incentives ..or- ,prohibi- tions. ' It ' urges new ideas be intro- duced with' a minimum . of regulationsand maximum use of education and 'extension pro- . grams. 'At a meeting 'in B.rucefreld • . early in NovemberDick'Franks, a researcher with the Ontario ' ministry of agriculture and food at the University of Guelph, recom- Mended the federationAook into the proposed IJC agreement. - "Some people may try to push things into it that may be difficult for you tolive with," he. -warned. PLUARG will be presenting its 'final report to ; the IJC about mid-July - next ' year and - he suggested the federation be represented there. The group that Franks addres- sed included Norman Alexander of Londesboro, Jaynes McIntosh of Tuckersmith Township and Goderich 'Councillor don Wheel- er, all three ' of whom are sitting on panels set up by PLUARG to allow public ' input. , The panels have: been meeting in . various centres throughout the Ontario portion of the Great -Lakes basin to hear ' briefs and conduct discussions. armers Also present were Mr. and. Mrs. y Merle Gunby, Mr. and Mrs. George ' Underwood and Bev Brown of the HFA and Ron 'Fleming, an agricultural engineer. with the ministry 'of agriculture and food: . Franks, described the research being done into 'pollution in the Great Lakes and the : purposes of the panels and commissions. Pollution and sedimentation in the Great . Lakes is pretty well documented, he said. Ships have collected 'samples - in a •grid pattern across the lakes and the information is all available. PLUARG's purpose now is 'to come up with a "balance sheet" showing ,where - everything is, coming from. " He added that in his opinion the_ public meetings Tare prema- ture since: "We don't , have everything nailed down yet and. won't until next year; maybe not even then." It is difficult - to hammer out . ways to curb• pollution until one kn9ws just where it is coming from and in what quantities, , he ex'ilained.- He . said the pollution , problem 'in the Great Lakes isnot so bad as in.: the Mediterranean;-wlficli`has no flow into the major oceans. The flow from the . 'lakes does eventually -reach. the Atlantic but. water that starts out' at Thunder Bay may take 100 -years to reach Halifax, he said; it picks up/ "a lot of pollutants 'along the way. Sedimentation and phosphorus pollution are two of the problems being looked ' at, that relate closely to agriculture. ' Sampling is going on in every stream delivering. more than 0.5' percent of the total volume of water from the Canadian side .7 a total'• of 1.50-200 streams, 'Frank said, and though details on sediment in the Grand and 'Vlore trades could deter (THE LONDON FREE PRESS) More technical 'subjects might have helped persuade some of the 23 students who dropped out of Huron. County schools before reaching the legal age of 16 to finish their education, saysa school board trustee. Dorothy Williams' said `the - Huron County boaid of education M 1977 approved the applications of 19 boys and four girls to leave school„ before they turned 16. 'That's about average, said' Mrs. Williams, who is a member of the early, school ..leaving committee which interviews all the applicants and recommends to the board which ones should be a «proved. • Without a high school diploma, Mrs. Williams said'"the future for the former students looks bleak.. "They have nothing. If they got their Grade 10 they could at least apprentice for .somethingvbut this waythey have nothing." Maitland, - rivers are not - yet available they will be shortly. Although PLUARG •is only interested in 'soil entering the lakes, sedimentation' there is just.` the tip of the iceberg, rhe noted:,. • The soil in�the streams represents 10 percent' or less of the soil _._ moving around on the farms', he • ' claimed. Soil is coming off -the- high thehigh ground -and being -deposited in the valleys with the . conse- quence that arable land is . being lost. The major:: issue; he emphasiz- - ed; is trying to keepthe soil in the fields to tht intain production for coming generations; sediment in the lakles is a minor issue by ( comparison. , • Phosphorus pollution is related tog erosion since clays, the finest' particles which are • the first to .. erode, are also the. richest in •phosphorus. This selective erosion results in .mriver,(sediment tat is far richer in . phosphorus than the fields were, he said. It1 s not clear that .phosphorus is . . .actually causing the problems in the lakes, he added,though it - is adding to problems already there. Lake Erie, for instance, is a rich ,,.lake; it just needed phosphorus to really - "to: 'to town". It now produces more fish than ever but they are "coarse" fish rather than the lake trout people are looking for. - Although the coarse fish are actually -higher in protein than the "better quality'." fish, people want the lake to revert to its previous condition. "Their objective is to turn the clock back to the 1930s and I don't' think we can .practically accomp= dish it," Franks .said. Hesaid the majority of the phosphorus entering the lakes is considered to be 'coming from CONTINUED ON PAGE .9 cou ro Mrs. Williams said she didn't think it was enough 'to teach them English and maths and suggested if they had more technical subjects such as shop ' courses they could find' a trade. • "What concerns me is they have no interests or hobbies. ' The majority ... are the rural children who are needed at home on the farm," s'he said. She said one girl was pregnant and another used ' a' nervous condition as the reason to quit. �. She ,said most of them just 'don't like the school. "They had been out five weeks before they came to see. us (the committee)." Whatever their reason for leaving, Mrs. Williariis'said4 it's usually a mistake. to obtain permission to quit they must first have the backing ° of the' school principal and their parents. - •- Mrs, Williams said some of the parents dote.t appear to under- stand how necessary an educatiA is to their `children's future. She said most who .come before 'the committee have a communica- tion problem at home: ' Mrs. Williams said she is not blaming the parents, its the responsibility of the - teachers, school administration and board of education to try and" keep them in school. , , ' . , "We're -not meeting the needs Of this, type of child," she said. Mrs.' Williams said students who feel comfortable with their peers and take part in some type of school activity are more likely to. stay in school. She said to leaves school early the Students must find a job, even if it's on their father's farm and the board continues to monitor their progress until they turn 16. Mrs. •Williams said the best thing that can happen to some of them is they don't like the. working world and decide , they want to go back to school, We've had , some back in September.'