The Rural Voice, 2001-09, Page 61Agrilaw
Lessons from Walkerton - regulating manure risks
By Paul G. Vogel
The E.coli contamination of
Walkerton's water supply in May
2000 which resulted in the illness and
death of many Walkerton residents
appears to have originated from a
livestock operation proximate to the
town's wells. Evidence heard by The
Walkerton Inquiry indicates that this
contamination occurred despite
compliance by the livestock operation
with present guidelines and best
management practices concerning
manure storage and spreading. What
is the possibility of similar well
contamination elsewhere'? Is present
manure management regulation
sufficient to address this risk? If not,
how should manure management be
regulated to protect drinking water
supplies?
A coalition of rural landowner
groups concerned about manure
management issues and the Sierra
Club of Canada (the Alert -Sierra
Coalition) has recently argued before
The Walkerton Inquiry that present
manure management guidelines and
best practices are inadequate to
protect Ontario's surface and
groundwater resources and that a
systematic, co-ordinated risk-based
approach to manure management
regulation is required for the
protection of this resource.
Studies presented to the Inquiry
have established that over 150,000
wells in Ontario may be
contaminated by bacteria in excess of
maximum acceptable levels
established under the Ontario
Drinking Water Objectives. These
studies indicate that this
contamination results twice as
frequently in fields where manure is
routinely applied. Evidence heard by
the Inquiry also indicates that the
pathogens contained in the manure
may survive in soil for months or
years and may travel through the soil
to enter underground aquifers many
kilometers from their point of
origination.
The position of Alert -Sierra is
that, even where mandated by
municipal bylaw, nutrient
management plans are ineffective to
prevent manure contamination of
water resources because they focus
on the nutrient requirements and
capacity of growing crops and fail to
address the pathogens contained in
manure and the fate of those
pathogens in the environment.
OMAFRA has
acknowledged
in evidence
before the
Inquiry that
many of the
variables
relevant to the
ability of the
subsurface soil,
at a particular
site and within
an entire
watershed to
absorb manure
are not
considered as a
part of nutrient management
planning. Similarly, present voluntary
best management practices, if
followed, provide no assurance of
protection of water resources because
they do not require consideration of
site-specific hydrogeological
conditions prior to the release of
manure into the environment.
In announcing the new Nutrient
Management Act, 2001, the Province
has proposed by regulation to simply
make mandatory nutrient
management planning, agricultural
best management practices and
environmental farm plans. Alert -
Sierra argues that such a limited
regulatory approach may be no more
successful than the present regulatory
regime in preventing contamination
of drinking water supplies.
Alert -Sierra's position is that
responsible management of Ontario's
surface and groundwater resources
requires that the contamination risks
of specitic development be assessed,
taking into consideration the
vulnerability of resources in the area
of the proposed development and the
nature of the development proposed.
This risk-based approach to water
resource management should include
regional aquifer vulnerability
Group
argues for
tougher
farm
building
restrictions
mapping and site-specitic,
hydrogeological investigation before
permitting development of new
agricultural facilities for manure
storage or the spreading of manure.
The risk assessment should take into
consideration factors affecting the
absorption capacity of the on-site
soils and watershed as a whole in the
area of spreading. These factors may
include climatic and soil conditions;
manure composition; time and rate of
spreading; the geology and
hydrogeology of the site, plus
vulnerability of the local aquifer to
contamination: proximity of the site
to wellhead recharge areas: and,
existing aquifer and surface water
quality.
Implementation of this risk-based
approach to water resource
management will necessitate a
comprehensive aquifer mapping and
vulnerability assessment program
with continuing monitoring. Well-
head recharge areas must also be
defined. It is Alert -Sierra's position
that only with such a comprehensive
regulatory regime in place can
current and future groundwater
impacts of manure storage and
spreading be evaluated. In areas
where aquifers are considered to be
vulnerable to contamination, such
regulation will require site
assessment with the risks of
agricultural development to be
controlled through restricted
approvals of specific manure
management practices.0
Agrilaw is a syndicated column
produced by the fill) service London
law firm of Cohen Highler LLP. Paul
G. Vogel, a partner in the firm.
practices in the area of commercial
litigation and environmental law.
Agrilaw is intended to provide
information to farm operators on
topics of interest and importance.
The opinions expressed are nor
intended as legal advice. Before
acting on any information contained
in this column, readers should obtain
legal advice with respect to their own
particular circumstances and
geographical area.
SEPTEMBER 2001 57