Onerous bylaws will drive farmers out of business

Re ave the Liberals forgotten Walkerton? Opinion, Oct. 15. Thomas Walkom should know the Liberals have not forgotten Walkerton. It’s just that “ intensive” livestock operations are not the cause of that tragedy. Rather, the problem was created by a couple of incompetent and dishonest municipal employees, compounded by poor placement and maintenance of muncipal well systems.

I find it curious that the leap from intensive farming to water pollution continues to pop up in publications supposedly dedicated to reporting facts. Perhaps we need to see more of the facts, like that in all of Ontario there were 18 manure spills in 2004, including two in Toronto and one in Burlington. On the other hand, sewage was spilled numerous times by many municipalities, the majority by large cities. Unlike manure, incompletely treated sewage is allowed to be “ bypassed” directly into watercourses and that occurred several hundred times in 2004. We don’t need more regulations than we already have for manure; pollution laws force an immediate report and a cleanup by the guilty party, with the possibility of fines. These fines are a pittance to large industry, but a serious consequence to any farmer, no matter how “intense.” Present legislation also requires new and expanding operations to have a manure management plan, including contingency plans. Canada has the most economical food in the world, due to the efficiency of modern agriculture. A barn with 1,500 hogs is not large; for our family it’s a part-time job. My daughter’s full- time job is running a sow barn with 480 sows that puts out about 10,000 piglets a year; she does that mostly herself, with a few hours help a week from other family members. We can’t pollute less than zero and onerous bylaws will only drive us out of business. We all want clean water. Let’s work to find the real solutions, Mary-Ann Hendrikx, Strathroy, Ont.