Hog mega-farm called disaster for landowners

By Cathy McKee
ERINSVILLE/For The Whig-Standard

A TAMWORTH REAL ESTATE BROKER BELIEVES AN intensive hog farm would be disastrous for Erinsville. "It will have a devastating effect on all businesses in this area," said Robert Storring.

Properties in the vicinity of a factory farm operation lose 30 to 50 percent of their value, Storring said. That statistic includes properties near where the manure is being spread, as well as those near the barn.

Last summer, during a banner year for sales of cottages and waterfront property, Storring said several people wouldn't  consider looking at homes on Beaver lake or White lake because of the possibility of a hog factory farm opening on Highway 41 north of Roblin.

That application to build was turned down. This year, Mark Slack is pursuing a permit to locate the operation in the hamlet of Ernisville, where the two lakes are located.

POTENTIAL BUYERS

Storring says sellers in areas that would be affected by the intensive farm must tell potential buyers about the proposed farm even though the project hasn't yet been approved by Stone Mills Township Council.

Property values in Erinsville, Tamworth and communities where manure will be spread are already diminished by the uncertainty surrounding Slack's efforts to secure a building permit, Storring said.

"Pigs crap al day long, and it will stink and attract flies," Storring said, pointing out that about 1,400 pigs will be housed in a 4,500 square-metre building, three times the size of the arena in Tamworth.

"When you bring in 1,400 animals, it is a factory farm, not a normal farm." Storring said.

"They do not belong in residential areas or in areas that are geographically constructed to be watersheds."

The soil in this area is dummer loam, which means it is coarse and drains rapidly. Storring says it doesn't absorb liquid or retain it for long.

FACTORY FARM

According to Ministry of Natural Resources maps, the surface of Beaver Lake is 163 metres above sea level. The lowest point on the property where the hog factory farm would be built is 173 metres above sea level and the highest point 188 metres above sea level.

With the lowest point on the farm 10 metres higher than the water surface of Beaver Lake, the lake would inevitably be polluted by  waste runoff, Storring said.

In addition, Erinsville has an elementary school near the proposed site of the barn.

MINISTER OF EDUCATION

Storring has written to Janet Ecker, Ontario's Minister of Education, to explain the threat to students if runoff enters the marshy area adjacent to the school.

Storring is a lifelong resident of Tamworth who has been in business for 30 years. he said he values traditional family farms.

"Mark Slack cannot say, 'I want to come home and run the family farm,' " Storring said.

"This is not a family farm."

"I don't know if we can stop this thing. We're behind the 8-ball. We'll see if council has the courage to stop it."