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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-12-01, Page 34PAGE 10A--GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1977 Huron farmers concerned ollution is big problem BY HENRY HESS Farmers in Huron County are vitally concerned with problems of pollution and erosion and want to see them brought under control. They are equally concerned, however, that the proposed solutions not make the business of agriculture any less viable. These interlocking positions form the core of the Huron Federation of Agriculture's (HFA) brief to PLUARG (Pollution from Land Use Activities Reference Group), a group studying 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 phosphorous reaching the lakes. Farmers are eager to find ways to lessen pollution from their operations, the brief says. It notes they derive their livelihood directly from the enrivonment and con- sequently have a "very .. special interest" in any pollution in the region. "As agriculturalists we are vitally interested in' troduced with a minimum of preventing the loss of prime regulations and maximum agricultural land for any use of education and ex- reason," it adds urging im- tension programs. mediate research into RESEARCH feasible ways to minimize soil INTO POLLUTION erosion and pollution of foodlands. At a meeting in Brucefield The brief warns against early in November Dick proposed solutions that might Franks, a researcher with the add greatly to a farmer's Ontario ministry of production costs. "Farmers agriculture and food at the seem to find themselves in a University of Guelph, perennial cost -price recommended the federation squeeze," it notes. Con- look into the proposed IJC sequently the public sector agreement. must be prepared to shoulder "Some people may try to at least part of the cost of any push things into it that may proposals requiring major be difficult for you to live cost of .production increases with," he warned. or large capital expenditures. PLUARG will be "If our capacity to produce presenting its final report to food ,in Canada is crippled, the IJC about mid-July next whether from pollution, year and he suggested the erosion or unreasonably federation be represented restrictive regulations aimed there. at curbing these, we will soon The group that Franks find ourselves at tfie mercy of addressed included Norman foreign food sellers," it Alexander of Lnndeshoro. cautions, noting 40 percent of James McIntosh of the gross national produce is Tuckersmith Township and related to agriculture. Goderich Councillor Don Neither do farmers want to Wheeler, all three of whom be saddled with all the blame are sitting on panels set up by for problems that are shared PLUARG to allow public with others. "Pollution from input. The panels have been non-farm sources must he meeting in various centres given equal attention," the throughout the Ontario brief urges. portion of the Great Lakes Industrial fallout includes basin to hear briefs and such toxic ' substances as conduct t icussi were Mr. and PCBs, sulphur dioxides and present ozone which eventually find Mrs. Merle Gungy, Mr. and their way into the food chain, Mrs. George Underwood and it notes, and points out that , Bev Brown of the HFA and the new Ontario Hydro plant Ron Fleming, an agricultural at Nanticoke, one of the engineer with the ministry of world's largest power agriculture and food. stations, has no Franks described the desulphurizing equipment. research being done into It also points out pollution in the Great Lakes agriculture is not the only and the purposes of the panels human • activity causing and commissions. erosion. Other causes include . Pollution and sedimen- road construction, cottage tation in the Great Lakes is and subdivision developrnent, pretty well documented, he gravel pits, mining, forestry said. Ships have collected operations and intensive samples in a grid pattern recreation. Road salt, it adds, across the lakes and the in - is becoming a major con- formation is all available. taminant in this region. PLUARG's purpose now is to The federation makes a come up with a "balance number of suggestions on sheet" showing where steps to be taken to reduce everything is coming from, erosion and pollution. These He added that in his opinion include: making one ministry the public meetings are or department responsible for premature since: "We don't looking after soil erosion have everything nailed down problems; introducing- yet and won't until nex-t year; courses in soil erosion and maybe not even then." It is conservation into universities difficult to hammer out. ways and colleges: conducting to curb pollution until one research into reclaiming and knows just where it is coming purifying sewage for use as from and in what quantities, fertilizer: developing new he explained. crops and cropping practices He said the pollution suitable .for Ontario growing problem in the Great Lakes is conditions; and retaining not so bad as in the forest cover and swamplands Mediterranean, which has no through a program of in- flow into the major oceans. The flow from the lakes do s centives or prohibitions. • It urges new ideas be in- 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. that arable land is being lost. The major issue, he em- phasized, is trying to keep the soil in the fields to maintain production for coming generations; sediment in the lakes is a minor issue by comparison. Phosphorus pollution is related to erosion since clays, the finest particles which are the first to erode, are also the richest in phosphorus. This selective erosion results in river sediment that is far richer in phosphorus than the fields were, he said. It'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 in- stance, 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 practically accomplish Franks said. He said the majority of the phosphorus entering the lakes is considered to be coming from agricultural activities, can it," RM GE Conference set Agriculture Minister Eugene Whelan announced recently that the National Food Conference promised in the Speech from the Throne will be held at the Govern- ment Conference Centre here on February 22 and 23, 1978. SEDIMENT "The conference will be the AND PHOSPHORUS culmination of a series of Sedimentation . and meetings directed at forging phosphorus pollution are two an integrated national food of the problems being looked strategy," Mr. Whelan said. at, that relate closely to "The first meeting will take agriculture. place at the Government Sampling is going on in Conference Centre on every stream delivering December 5, 6 and 9. A more than 0.5 percent of the number of national total volume of water from organizations representing the Canadian side --a total of producers, consumers, 150-200 streams, Franks said, processors and retailers have and though details on been invited to meet with a sediment in the Grand and panel of federal cabinet Maitland rivers are not yet ministers at that time," Mr. available they will.be shortly. Whelan said. Although PLUARG is only "These selected national interested in soil entering the .organizations will be telling lakes, sedimentation there is us their reaction to the white just the tip of the iceberg, he paper, A Food Strategy for noted. The soil in the streams Canada. We also have asked represents 10 percent or less them to make recom- of the soil moving around on mendations on what actions the farms, he claimed. Soil is the federal and provincial coming off the high ground governments, their own and being deposited in the group and the rest of the food valleys with the consequence industry can take to im- N THE Our recent license extension will put us into more places than ever before... in fact, all across Southern Ontario (south of Highway 17). We are now reorganizing our fleet to serve these additional points and provide shippers with service second to none. • More ways to ship • Competitive Rates • More points to reach. Expect the best ... we'll soon be there. CN EXPRESS Fast. Reliable. Coast-to-coast. plement the food strategy goals." Although time and space limit the number of groups that can be accommodated at the December meeting, briefs from other organizations and individuals are desired. These briefs will be studied by the Ministers involved in the food strategy discussion following the December meetings. 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