The Rural Voice, 2002-07, Page 42Ag News
Water quality not simple issue, Perkel says
Water quality isn't a simple issue,
Colin Perkel, author of Well of Lies,
the best selling book on the
Walkerton water tragedy told people
attending a forum in Bayfield. June
15.
Perkel was in Bayfield to speak to
a day -long workshop called Bayfield
River and its Watershed, hosted by
the Friends of the Bayfield River, a
group that includes representatives
from cottagers at the mouth of the
river at Bayfield to farmers upstream
as far as Dublin. Organizers were
overwhelmed by a turnout of 120
people for the session.
Perkel's remarks came as he was
answering an angry questioner who
cited a recent situation he had
observed where a "factory farm" had
been spreading liquid manure "near
the Bayfield River" shortly before a
rain was expected. "I'm wondering
how it's humanly possible for
municipalities, governments and the
rest, to allow this type of thing to
happen now, after Walkerton."
But Perkel wasn't ready to blame
agriculture for all problems. "When
Walkerton first happened people said
big industrial farms were the reason.
I don't want to defend or attack big
industrial farms myself at this
particular juncture because what
transpired is the farm that actually
led to the problem was a model farm
family 'mom and pop' farm. It was
clean as a whistle. You could
essentially eat your breakfast off the
barn floor — and yet there was still
an incredible problem. I don't know
what the answer to that is."
Perkel said that agriculture and
food is the second biggest industry in
the province and farming can be a
seriously hazardous activity. "I also
know that you and I want to be able
to go to the supermarket or grocery
store and get.good quality and pay
next to nothing for it."
But while he defended farming he
also said that at the local level people
needed to be vigilant "and make sure
that we just don't hand over the
responsibility to somebody else."
While saying that he didn't know
anything about the farming operation
38 THE RURAL VOICE
the questioner was attacking. Perkel
said he knew that rules and
regulations aren't enough.
"We all have to buy into why we
need those rules and regulations,
otherwise they make no sense.
Otherwise we're Stan Koebel (the
Walkerton Public Utilities manager
at the time of the tragedy) going
through the motions filling out log
sheets without paying any attention
when it comes to red tape."
People need to ask the questions
of the politicians and of large farm
operations to make sure they are
responsible, Perkel said.
"We all have to realize that we all
play a role in this. It's easy to say just
keep out big farmers."
When the questioner expressed
frustration at not being able to find
out information about large farming
operations Perkel said municipal
offices have information about
building permits being issued. "Ask
the questions. find out who knows
and find out what they know. And if
you're not satisfied, keep asking and
keep talking."
Also making presentations in the
morning indoor session before
participants toured various sites in
the afternoon, were Mike Malhiot of
the Ministry of Natural Resource and
Erin Dolmage of the Ausable
Bayfield Conservation Authority.
The speakers helped give a
background understanding of the
Wiarton hosts elk
More than 200 elk breeders from
eastern Canada and the United States
are expected to attend the North-East
Regional Antler Competition at
Regal Point Elk Farm near Wiarton,
July 26-27. This marks the first time
the Grey -Bruce region will host this
prestigious event.
"It's a really big opportunity,"
says Eric Robinson, chair of the local
organizing committee and current
president of the Ontario Elk Breeders
Association (OEBA). "We hope to
take it farther than ever before in
terms of bringing together people in
the industry."
OEBA is pulling out all stops for
watershed.
Dolmage noted the number one
use of land in the watershed is
agriculture. The land, once nearly
totally forested, was cleared in the
early and mid -1800s and much of the
land has been tiled. Urban centres, as
they have grown, have created storm
sewer systems. This means that rains
tend to be flash events with water
flushing off the land, through drains
and into the river and quickly going
down the river to the lake.
Much of the flood plain for the
river has also been developed for
farmland, residential and recreational
purposes, she said.
Malhiot said the watershed has
about 9.5 per cent tree cover today
and a healthy watershed should have
25 per cent. It's unrealistic to expect
a return to 25 per cent tree cover, he
said, but smaller tree plantings of the
right sort can make a big impact. One
acre of trees planted in a wetland can
be more valuable than 100 acres of
trees on valuable $5,000 an acre corn
or soybean land, he said.
A lack of wetlands is one of the
problems in the Bayfield watershed,
Malhiot said. Originally the
watershed had about 25 per cent of
its land in wetland but today less than
one per cent is wetland. A minimum
of 10 per cent of a healthy watershed
should be wetlands, he said.0
competition
the two-day event with live animal
and semen auctions, motivational and
guest speakers, information sessions,
a comedian hypnotist show, a
farmer's olympics and of course, the
highlight of the weekend, the antler
competition.
"When you get into mature
antlers," Robinson says, "if you have
the superstars of the industry present,
you could get racks weighing 50
pounds. They can be five feet high
and six feet wide."
The event is an opportunity for elk
breeders to get together to compare
animals, bloodlines and genetics. It's
Continued on Pg. 39