The Rural Voice, 2003-09, Page 8"Our experience
assures lower cost
water wells"
103 YEARS' EXPERIENCE
Member of Canadian
and Ontario
Water Well Associations
• Farm
• Industrial
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by the Ministry
of the Environment
DAVIDSON
WELL DRILLING LTD.
WINGHAM
Serving Ontario Since 1900
519-357-1960 WINGHAM
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FARM DRAINAGE
1990 LTD.
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Frank Fischer, Harriston
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"We install
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4 THE RURAL VOICE
Keith Roulston
Another attitude adjustment
Keith
Roulston is
editor and
publisher of
The Rural
Voice. He
lives near
Blyth, ON.
Birth -to -packing -plant identifi-
cation of beef cattle was a hard sell
with some beef producers before a
single case of BSE made the need for
accurate and speedy tracing of cattle
take on new importance.
We pretty much took clean water,
especially from deep wells, for
granted, before seven people died
from tainted water in Walkerton.
Suddenly water testing and protection
became top of mind.
And now, following the Great
Blackout that left 50 million North
Americans in the dark, energy
conservation may become not just
something that people talk about, but
essential if we want to keep the lights
on and our businesses going.
In all cases, nothing has really
changed and yet everything has
changed. Tracing of animals was
important before — now we just
realize why. People aren't at any
more danger from bacteria in their
water now than before Walkerton, but
now we understand the potential
harm of making a mistake. And we
already needed to conserve
electricity, now we know the
consequences if our system fails.
In a way we humans are like the
advice given by a mule -handler:
"First you hit it over the head with a
two-by-four to get its attention." Well
they've got our attention now!
What major events like Walkerton
or the big blackout do is reshuffle our
priorities. On any subject, there is a
whole range of benefits or detractions
and our decision-making depends on
the priority we give these. For the
Ontario government prior to the
Walkerton tragedy, the priority was
cutting government payroll. The
safety of drinking water was barely
on the radar screen because we took
it as a given. Those people who were
to look over the shoulders of local
water managers were just seen as
duplicating work and therefore could
be safely laid off in the interest of
cutting bureaucracy and taxes.
Suddenly in one tragic instant, those
priorities were scrambled and safe
water topped savings, to the point the
government has enacted regulations
to protect water that are driving small
municipalities crazy.
Or take the situation after the
blackout. Public health officials were
shaking their heads because people
were getting sick from eating food
left in refrigerators and freezers
instead of throwing it out, as they
advised. For well-paid civil servants
the priority was food safety. But for
people who could hardly afford the
groceries the the first place, saving
money was a higher priority. For
others, the idea of wasting food that
might still be good was the concern.
This waste versus safety issue also
depends on your point of view on
issues. Today hospitals create an
incredible amount of waste with
gloves and needles and all other kinds
of medical supplies that are used
once, then thrown out. Medical
officials see it as a health and safety
issue but if your concern is waste,
whether buried or incinerated, the
issue takes on a whole different hue.
In farming, focus recently has
been on a certain kind of efficiency.
Low cost, reliable electricity has led
to large facilities that use electricity
for ventilation, electricity for feeding
and watering, electricity for record
keeping. Under the current rules it all
makes economic sense. If things
change, if the price of electricity
soars to buy new supply and revital-
ize the power grid or security
becomes a concern, priorities might
be reshuffled.
On the other hand, higher
electrical prices could make farm -
generated electricity from methane
digesters, biodiesel or wind energy
suddenly become more viable.
Our thinking will change because
of the new reality imposed by the
blackout. Those who can guess how
it will change have the greatest
opportunity for success.0