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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1977-11-30, Page 147;f Page 14—The Wingham Advance Times, November 30. 1977 Lake pollution concerns Huron County farmers 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 con cerned, however, that the pro- posed solutions not make the business of agriculture any less viable. These interlocking positions form the core off the Huron Federation of Agriculture's (HFA) brief of PLUARG (Pollu- tion 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 phos- phorus 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 environment and consequently have a "very special interest" in any pollution in the region. "As agriculturalists we are vitally interested in 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 food- / lands. The brief warns against pro- posed solutions that might add greatly to a farmer's production costs. 'Farmers seem to find themselves in a perennial cost - price squeeze,' it notes. Con- sequently the public sector must prepared to shoulder at least part of the cost of any proposals requiring major cost of produc- tion increases or large capital expenditures. . - "If our capacity to produce food in • Canada .is crippled, whether from pollution, erosion or unreasonably restrictive reg- ulations aimed at curbing these, we will soon find ourselves at the mercy of foreign food sellers'," it cautions, noting 40 per cent of the gross national product is related 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 at- tention," the brief urges. • Industrial fallout includes such toxic substances as PCBs, sul- phur dioxides and ozone which eventually find their way into the food, chain, it notes, and points out that the riew Ontario Hydro plant at Nanticoke, one Of the world's largest power stations, has no desulphurizing equipment. It also points out agriculture is not the onlyIshuman activity causing 1 erosion. Other causes include road construction, cot- tage and subdivision develop- ment, gravel pits, mining for- estry operations and intensive recreation. Road salt, it adds, is becoming a major contaminant in this region. The federation makes a num- ber of .suggestions on steps to be taken to reduce erosion and pol- lution. These include: —making one ministry or de- partment responsible for looking after soil erosion problems; —introducing courses in soil erosion and conservation into universities and colleges; —conducting research into re- claiming and purifying sewage for use as fertilizer; —developing new crops and cropping practices suitable for Ontario growing conditions.; —retaining forest cover and swamplands through a program of incentives or prohibitions. It urges new ideas be intro- duced with a minimum of regula- tions and maximum use of education and extension pro- grams. ESEARCH INTO POLLUTION At a meeting in Brucefield early in November Dick Franks, a researcher with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food at the University of Guelph, recommended the federation look into the proposed IJC agree- ment. "Some people may try to push things into it that may be difficult for you to live with," he warned. PLUARG will be presenting its final report to the IJC about mid-July next year and he sug- gested the federation be rep- resented there. The group Mr, Franks addres- sed included Norman Alexander of Londesboro, James 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. Also present were Mr. and Mrs. Merle Gunby, Mr. and Mrs. George Underwood and Bev Brown of the HFA and Ron Fleming, an agricultural en- gineer, with the ministry of agriculture and food. Mr. Franks described the research being done Into pol-' . lution in the Great Lakes and the purposes of the panels and -com- missions. r Pollution and sedimentation in the Great Lakes is pretty well documented, he said. Ships have collected samples in a grid pat- tern 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 are. premature 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 knows just where it is corning from and in what quantities, he explained. • He said the 'pollution problem in the Great Lakes is not so bad as in the Mediterranean, which has no flow into the major oceans.. The flow from the lakes does eventually reach th Atlan- tic but water that start out at Thunder Bay may may ke 100 years to reach Halifax, h said; it picks up a lot of pollutants along the way. SEDIMENT AND PHOSPHORUS Sedimentation and phosphorus pollution are two of the 0.5 per cent of the total volume of water from the Canadian side — a total of 150-400 streams, Mr. Franks said, and though details on sedi- ment in the Grand and 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, he noted. The soil in the streams rep- resents 10 per cent or less of the soil moving around on the farms, he claimed. Soil is coming off the high ground and being deposited in the valleys with the conse- quence that arable land is being lust. • The major issue, he empha- sized, is trying to keep the soil in the fields to maintain production or coming generations: sedi- ment in the lakes is a minor issue n'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 ero- sion 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 instance, is a rich lake; it just needed phos- phorus to really "go to town". It now produces more f` i 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 ac- complish it," Mr. Franks said. He said the majority of the phosphorus entering the lakes is considered to be coming from agricultural activities, mostly from manure, with some coming from fertilizers. This is one area that will undoubtedly come under IJC scrutiny in framing new regulations and farmers should be looking into the charges against them, he noted. HOME INSULATION SERVICE Homes and all types of Buildings FREE ESTIMATE No Obligation Phone LOWS BLAKE 88/-6800 Serving the people of Western Ontario for over a quarter of a Century. The Gift Of ;gs More Precious Than Ever See our stunning collection of 14K gold pendants and earrings, with diamonds, pearls or precious stones. Clip this coupon and deposit at Gemini Jewellers with every purchase. You could win a 1/4 side of beef.. A time for every- one. A Bulova watch is a frienciforever. For quality, accuracy, beauty and dependability. Gemini Jewellers The perfect Christmas gift. Give someone you love a beautiful gold, stone or diamond ring. NAME ADDRESS TOWN PHONE POLLUTION RESEARCH—Dick Franks, a ministry of agriculture and food researcher af the University of Guelph, described research being conducted into pollution problems in the Great Lakes to -a small group meeting at Brucefield school earlier this month. Among those attending the meeting were Merle Gunby, Norman Alexander, Ran Fleming and Mr. and Mrs. George Underwood.. Also present were Sheila Gunby, Bev Brown, Don Wheeler, James McIntosh and Mrs. Franks. By Murray Gaunt, MPP for Huron -Bruce Report from Queen's Park Premier William Davis indi- cated last week he has no objec- tion to moving Lieutenant Gover- nor Pauline McPibbon's suite out of , the Legislative Building, as long as suitable accommodation can be found near Queen's Park. Such a move would be prompted by the desperate need for finding space to accommodate MPP's. Ontario's fnunicipal elections will henceforth be held on the second Monday in' November. Previously,voting day has been the first Monday in December. The Legislature is still debat- ing whether or not the term for municipal council should remain at two years or be extended to three years. That will be decided this week. Centre for homebound enjoys busy program Oneof, the liveliest spots in the Clinton area .these days is the Huron County Day Care Centre for the Homebound. The Centre has been open for seven weeks and activities have been planned to interest all . the homebound folks who have been coming out to enjoy the companionship of others. How do 'homebound' people get to the Centre? Where no friends or relatives are available, a faithful band of volunteer drivers is on hand to pick them up and see that they reach the Centre in time for the morning coffee break — which often includes cookies fresh from the oven, baked by volunteers or participants in the program. Baking is just one of our activities. "Painting for Fun" is off to a good start under the able and light-hearted direc- tion of Hollis Manske. There is always someone on Lueknow Appliance Centre Appliance ' Sales and Service PHONE 528-2946 Guaranteed Service to all Makes Leonard Dealer New and Used Appliances Give us a try if your Appliances are in need of Repair hand to play a game of euchre and . "Fun and Fitness" is as popular as shuffleboard for getting the folks loosened up in the \forenoon. Woodwork began last week. John Talbot of Sea - forth has this project in hand and the willing w000dworkers are making easels for the painters as their first project. Movies are planned for Thurs- day along with the other acti- vities and the third Thursdayof every month has been set aside for "footcare" when those who find it hard to reach those tender tootsies are ministered to; by the gentle ladies of the public health department, December is a busy month for all, and those at the Centre for the Homebound are no exception. On December .7, the Centre plays host to all volunteers of Huron County who have been invited to hear Karen Ross Of the Central Volunteer. Bureau in London, who will conduct a workshop on the subject of the rights and expecta- tinns of volunteers. Everyone is welcome to this event. The Christmas party is planned for Thursday, Denernber 22, with a really good time for all, At the Day Care Centre for the Homebound, folks don't sit around and complain about their disabilities, All share the abilities they have and enjoy time to- gether. Call 482-7943 if you are home- bound and would like to share the companionship of others. Some trees like White Birch need lots of light while others like Hemlock can tolerate shade. During the spending estimates of his office Premier William Davis defended a $1 million in- crease in the cost of running his office over the past six years by citing increases in workload and responsibility. The total budget for the premier's office this year is $1.5 million. Ontario has 'abolished the con- cept of the illegitimate child for purposes of the law, and has also set up a legal framework to help, establish parentage even when, the parents have never been' married to each other. The new law received royal assent earlier this month, but will not go into effect until March 31, 1978. The legislation will have special significance in court cases involving inheritance claims, since under its provisions illegitimate children will have the same standing as all other children when either a mother or father or both die without leaving a will. Before the new law,, illegitimate children had• no claim before the courts for inheritance. .The entire scope of Ontario Hydro's current and future operations has been opened up for detailed examination by a select committee of the Legisla- •ture"appointed last week. The terms of reference for the committee, which had been a matter ' of considerable behind - the -scenes controversy between the Liberals, the NDP and the Government, are broad enough to allow committee , members to question everything from the current construction of heavy water plants in Bruce County to Ontario's commitment to nuclear power. The select committee's term;, for example, call for it to examine Ontario Hydro's plan- ning strategy for adopting nuclear power, and in particular large versus small generating stations, remote stations versus sites close to urban areas, and the ratio of nuclear fuel generating stations that should be built in comparison to fossil fuel stations. Also to be considered by the select committee are the economics of. nuclear power versus generation from other pri- mary fuels; the performance and reliability •of nuclear power sta- tions; the nuclear generating sta- tions; and environmental impact and health considerations related to nuclear power. 10111.1t;1 O !,k O ti^ 0 e • 0 .. A A e r. • I. * THIS CHRISTMAS SHOP WINGHAM You could win one of the many prizes supplied by the Wringham Merchants. All that you have, to do is clip the coupons from the ads, deposit them at the corresponding store when you make a pur- chase and you have an excellent chance of winning one of the many pines. 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