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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1987-08-05, Page 1Nits 1N(:OHrOH ATI'(; -THF till TH ST•Ol)aMD-T'HE 11,11 F1F.1.1) til (:I.F NO. 31 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1987 50 CENTS Five gallon pails, filled to overflowing with dead fish represented a small sampling of the results of water pollution on the ponds at the Dave Middleton farm. Here neighbor Tilly Westerhout and Dave Middleton examine the dead fingerlings as they were scooped by the hundreds from the ponds on Sunday afternoon. (Shelley McPhee Haist photo Laws can do little to stop water pollution By Shelley McPhee Haist HULLETT TWP. - Dead fish, thousands of small finglerings lay belly up on the ponds of the Dave Middleton farm on Sunday after- noon. Pollution killed the fish. The interlocking system of ponds, streams and dams are usually beautiful. They highlight the 20 acre farm of Dave and Marie Middleton on the Base Line Road bet- ween Clinton and Auburn. The ponds,'usual- ly greenish -blue in hue, are now blackened with pollution. They smell wretched. Along with the dead fish, there are dead crayfish. Even dead blood suckers. In another pond, small tadpoles could be seen jumping out of the water, gasping for air, as clouds of grey polluted' liquid washed into the once clean water. The ponds empty into a public stream where cattle drink. After that it's only a mile journey to the Maitland River. From there the water travels to the mouth of the Maitland, at the Goderich harbor and emp- ties into Lake Huron. Dave Middleton is angry and frustrated. Sunday's events proved to be a culmination of a long and seemingly futile struggle in his efforts to stop the polluting of his ponds. He first spotted the pollution last week. "On Thursday 1 saw the stuff coming into the ponds. They kept getting blacker and blacker." He lowered the pond levels by a foot and was able to see that the black liquid was travelling through a municipal drain that leads onto his property. The pollution, believed to be liquid pig manure, may be corning from a lagoon at a nearby hog operation. No one has yet verified this speculation. it appears that the lagoon had overflowed, similar to an incident that happened last November. That incident was called an accident. Dave Middleton•is not satisfied to call this second occurance an accident. He telephoned Hullett Council members and they came to his farm. He called the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture. Friday night bandage measures were taken to stop the pollution flow into the ponds. More than eight Toads of dirt and clay were dumped into the municipal drain in an effort to block the flow. At the same time some eight loads of water were pumped out. The Ministry of the Environment took water samples to he tested. it seemed to be the hest remedies that could be offered on a holiday weekend. Sunday morning, the picture changed. Between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. more than three inches of rain fell. The torrential downpour broke down the dirt barricade that had been placed at the end of municipal drain. Gallons of polluted water and animal waste washed into the Middleton pond system. Within a few short hours the dead fish started rising to the surface. At 1 p.m. a telephone call was made to the Ministry of the Enironment I MOE i of- ficial, Larry Struthers in Owen Sound. By 3:30 p.m. he was on the scene of the Mid- dleton farm to examine the ponds and to take action to stop the pollution flow. At that time, it was suggested that bulldozers and dump trucks he brought in BA}'FIF,'/,U MEETING ODC and its directors are on the road The Ontario Development Corporation (ODC ) and its directors are taking to the road in an effort to raise the profile of the funding and industrial development group, and a two-day meeting of the Board of Directors in Bayfield last week was the first step in that direction. The ODC, responsible for handling a portfolio of loans and government finan- cial assistance packages through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Technology, mainly provides and insures loans for secondary manufacturing con- cerns in the province; it helps finance the development of offshore markets and substantially aids the province's tourist industry. The ODC is an umbrella group for regional divisions of the corporation and includes 16 directors, all from the private sertnr The Northern Ontario Develop- ment Corporation and its Eastern Ontario counterpart, have 14 directors each. in- novation Ontario Corporation, with 15 directors, is helping companies with development in the high tech area. Owners and managers of two industrial parks in the province, one near Cobourg and the other in Centralia, the ODC has been somewhat passive in its development role, a shortcoming ODC's Chariman, Doug Johnson of Kenora hopes to alleviate. "We own and manage both industrial parks, which were military bases, but we have been passive managers," Johnson explained. "We need to be more pro- gressive and try and get more industry there. In the case of Huron Park, that would help this whole area." Johnson views the ODC's mandate as a clear one that demands economic develop- ment. expansion and the creation of per- manenet jobs in the province. it is a man- date, he believes, the corporation is living up to. •' We have created over $125 million in in- vestment in Ontario and that has provided over 3,000 jobs in the last five years," he said adding that the corporation often augments financing or acts as a guarantor for a manufacturing concern, rather than a last resort. Formally created in +965, the ODC has been instrumental in providing $36 million in financing in the province since April 1. Fourteen million has been injected in the tourism sector to expand and ugrade facilities such as the Little inn where the board meeting took place. Another $18 million has been pumped in- to the manufacturing sector and $4 million has gone for the development of the export market. David Wright, OD(' manager, said that while the corporation's repayable loans are generally limited to $500,000, the credit may be extended to $l million in the export field. The directors serving on the four cor- porations are business professionals from the private sector who are paid on a per diem basis for their participation. Directors were in full agreement that moving the OD'C monthly meetings to various parts of the province where the corporation's loan guarantees were in operation, was a healthy and beneficial exercise. and more dirt be dumped to create a makeshift dam. At best, any measures taken will be tem- porary ones. Mr. Struthers admits that his ministry is limited in its authority to stop the pollution. Further water tests and investigations will take place. A court order must be ob- tained before the MOE officials can have ac- cess to the property in question. Charges could be laid. A lengthy court hearing could ensue and fines could be levied. In any event, Dave Middleton is not satisfied that his ponds are safe from fur- ther pollution. "We need some teeth in the law," he stated. "Who's going to pay for all of this." It could cost up to $30,000 for Mr. Mid- dleton to drain his ponds and dredge them in an effort to clean out the pollution. There is a possibility that he could be reimbursed through Environment Compensation, but there's no guarantee. And, there's no guarantee that the manure lagoon will not overflow again. "They can't close down the operation that's causing the problem. They say that will take away a person's livelihood," said Mr. Middleton, "but this has gone to far. It needs to be shut down." Turn to page 3 CLINTON PUBLIC HOSPITAL BUILDING FUND 4( z tin w 0 W 0. 55570:40 550, 000 525, 000 500, 000 475, 000 450, 000 400, 000 300, 000 200, 000 175, 000 150, 000 100, 000 1 4