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Clinton News-Record, 1987-08-12, Page 3CLINTON NEWS -RECORD' wynnrvcnAv ATTia "CT t9 1Q87—Ptee $ Middleton pond pollution spill investigated By Shelley McPhee Haist HIP.,LETT TWP.—Action is being taken by the township council in hopes of avoiding future contamination of waterways here. Still, council is limited in its powers to pre- vent a repeat of an incident that occurred of August 2 when the ponds of the farm of Dave Middleton were polluted and thousands of fish died. . It is believed that the contamination was caused by an overflow from a liquid pig manure storage lagoon. It is the second time that such an incident has occurred and there are no guarantees that such a spill will not happen again. While council has authority to fine a farm operator who contravenes the manure storage bylaw, there is no legislation im- mediately available that could close down such a storage pit, even one that is used illegally. Hullett Reeve Tom Cunningham says that the farmer in question has been asked to stop using the pit and has been asked to pump the excess manure out. He noted, "We'd like the power°, to go in there and fill the darn thing in, and for him to rebuild the pit properly." The pit, according to township council, is illegal, in that it was dug without council's permission and it does not meet the regula- tions set out in municipal. bylaws. "We knew there was a problem last fall," Reeve Cunningham admitted when council met on August 4. "We had hoped that the problem would have been overcome." The situation was not rectified as hoped, and as a result a second pollution spill oc- curred this month after a torrential rainfall washed gallons of liquid pig manure through a municipal dram and into the Mid- dleton pond system. From there the blackened water travelled to a spring salmon creek, the Maitland River and on to 1,ake Huron. "The public is environmentally conscious. We have to clean this up," Reeve Cunn- ingham noted. "This kind of act isn't doing agriculture any good." It could cost Dave Middleton more than $30,000 to pump the polluted water out of his ponds and to dredge the bottom in an effort to remove contaminated sediment. He has been advised by council not to make anv move to clean the ponds yet. There could be further pollution. The August 4 council meeting discussion proved to be a frustrating one as council members, government officials and con- cerned parties wrestled with the issue of the pollution. In particular concern focussed on limitations to close the manure pit. While the municipal bylaw on manure storage clearly outlines the regulations for the setting up of manure storage'systems, it does not carry enough weight to shut down pits that do not comply by the laws: The Hullett bylaw allows for a concrete storage tank with a lid, an open concrete pit, or an earthen pit with specific regulations concer- ning distances from neighboring properties and soil testing to determine leaching into the soil. Some Hullett property owners, like Garnet Wright and Alex Wasterhout, are concerned that the manure pit in question may be causing water ground pollution, with seepage into wells. Drinking water could be contaminated. Reeve Cunningham admits that the township bylaw is no good. It does not ade- quately address those who may contravene it. The reeve sat on the county council com- mittee that first drew up the manure storage bylaw. Lawyers and agricultural specialists also worked on it. Many townships, including Hullett, adopted the county bylaw. Hullett Council is now asking the county council to redraft the bylaw. The situation is not unique to Hullett Township, said bylaw enforcement officer Eugene McAdam. "It's happening all over the country. Farmers will pay fines, but it's cheaper than putting up a concrete tank. We could get a fine on this, but a restraint is practical- ly impossible." Council has authorized Mr. McAdam to work with the township solicitor in an effort to levy as many fines as possible against the farm operator in question in this case. A charge could be made under the Municipal Drainage Act. In part the act reads, " no person shall discharge or deposit into any drainage works, any liquid, material or substance other that unpolluted drainage water. Every person who con- , travenes is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than Traffic review results in changes in Clinton By David Emslie CLINTON - A review of the traffic bylaws carried out by the local police and public orks departments has resulted in many changes to the traffic flow and parking in this town. '1 he lengthy bylaw was discussed by Clin- to; , Council during their August 4 meeting. One intersection sign change which received much attention from council was the Albert Street-Rattenbury Street corner. Drivers travelling east or west toikalyds Albert on Rattenbury will now be able to make right turns only. At first council considered restricting this rule to prime time hours only, however, this idea met with some opposition. I don't like too many words in signs. If you add too much, it gets too confusing," commented public works superintendent llatrbld Gibbings. He recommended just leaving it as a straight no right turn intersection, Councillnr Gord Gerrits didn't agree with this idea though. "Why burden the traffic (luring off hours? We're going to end up with stop signs; no turns, we're only a town of 3,200," he said. Another big change to take place will be the removal of the rule that states there is no parking on town streets from 2 to 7 a.m. year round. Mayor Balfour explained that this is an drea where the most complaints are receiv- ed because of summer parking. "We very, very, very seldom get a complaint for get- ting a ticket in the winter," he said. It was for this reason that council decided to change the rule so it reads there will be no parking on the streets for those same hours, but only between October 1 and April 30. After Mr. Gibbings suggested the core area will look like the devil within six mon- ths if the street cleaners can't get through, the suggestion was made to exempt Highway 4 and Highway 8 from the new rule. The one other notable difference in the new rules fillsee sto°`p'sigtIs placed on Mary -Street at the corner -of -Orange: Automobiles travelling east or west on Mary will now have to come to a stop at this intersection. A few reasons were given for this change, one being to accommodate the new am- bulance business and the other to slow down traffic on Mary Street. Councillor Gerrits asked, "Is this going to help with accidents? Are we going to reduce accidents by not having a stop for eight blocks? I don't think we're going to have people stopping on Mary." Mayor Balfour noted that the only thing council could do was try it out and see what happens, and put in the warning signs for new stop signs. "It's going to take awhile, and there is go- ing to have to be Tots of forewarning," he said. Aside from traffic signs in town, some of the parking areas will also be changed. Along with these changes some painting will be done. Handicapped parking spots will be painted blue, with the handicapped symbol in white, and no parking areas will be painted with red bars. Noticed anything new around town° At the main corner in Clinton, posts now don new signs. This sign pictured above does not mean Albert loves someone, but that you have found Alhei t Street, in the heart of Huron County. These signs are help promoting Clin- ton's slogan, The Heart Of Huron County. Ontario, Victoria, Huron and Isaac Streets also have the new signs at the main intersection. (Anne Narejko photo) $1,000." Council is also working with the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of Agriculture on the problem. Larry Struthers of the MOE has been on the scene of the pollution spill. He noted, "The Ministry of the Environment says that manure ` storage falls under municipal jurisdiction .... manure storage is a man- date of council." He said however that he is further in- vestigating the situation as Moe legislation states that no one can contaminate a water course. "A decision will be made on this. The ministry is assessing whether legislation has been violated," he said. Charges could be laid. Still there is no direct process that allows the closing of the pit. Such an order must come from a provin- cial or federal court. "We at least have to pursue this with a charge. It will get the ball rolling," said Reeve Cunningham. "If the MOE lays charge it could put enough pressure on him (the farm operator)." "We don't want to put the man out of business by fines, we want to resolve this problem," he noted. In any event it could be a lengthy process to have charges laid and fines levied. Charges laid after a similar spill last November have yet to come before the courts. In the meantime everyone can only hope that the manure pit does not overflow again. "What do we do until all the paperwork is done?" asked Councillor Bob Szusz. Mr. Struthers said that the manure pit would be monitored regularly to determine how rapidly it is filling up. Council hopes to meet with the farm operator in an effort to come to a permanent solution to the problem. Specifically, council wants a proper storage pit. And, there are still the ponds to think about. Clean up will be a costly venture. The Middletons could receive financing from Environment Compensation. They will app- ly for such funding. In the event that the ap- plication is refused, Mr. Middleton asked, "Who will pay then? It's (pollution) coming out of a municipal drain. Maybe this will have to come back to the municipality." Garnet Wright added, "And everybody will have to pay for one guy's mistake." BEST INTEREST 1 0 /4% Guaranteed Investment Certificates Subject to change Gaiser-Kneale 1x Pr Insurance 235-2420 Clinton 482-9747 Brokers Inc. 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