Factory farms are nothing but multinational conglomerates
parading as family farms, according to Scott Dye, speaking at a March conference on
intensive livestock operations (ILOs). Over two hundred and fifty delegates
attending the London conference heard from national and international speakers across the
continent. Fight the good fight against the invasion of corporate agriculture and the
erosion of rural life was the message returned to Erinsville -- the front line of our
local pork wars.
A sleepy hamlet northwest of Kingston, Erinsville nestles beside Beaver Lake and
hugs the Canadian Shield. Surrounded by marginal farm and recreational land, it
seems an unlikely location for a mega hog factory. Yet a serious skirmish is unfolding
involving local residents, township council, and a hog factory farmer.
For Erinsville and neighbouring Beaver Lake, the thought of over 1,400 sows birthing
piglets on the hill farm is frightening. Residents are afraid that their wells will be
contaminated by manure from the hogs one-acre large open sewage lagoon. They worry that
ammonia and hydrogen sulfide gases -- produced by the tons of pig wastes stored for free
distribution to contracting area farmers as fertilizer -- will negatively affect quality
of life and health. A recent Ontario Pork study revealed that sixteen percent of
lagoons leak, and more have structural issues. The proposed Erinsville
operation would see manure spread on neighbouring fields in quantities unprecedented in
the area. Residents want to know: Will there be manure seepage into the aquifer through
cracks in the limestone bedrock? Will manure seepage, run-off or spills from the
lagoon leach into the many streams feeding the lake, resulting in fish kills and polluted
water?
What, they wonder, are the implications not just on ground water but on the
underground aquifer? Since there has been no study to show how this hog factory farm might
affect area water, residents wonder if the thousands of gallons of water required each day
will deplete the water table. If the water table drops, will this operation cause wells to
run dry?
At a local public meeting in Centreville on March 12th, a representative of
the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) told over 150
concerned residents that the hog factory would use only 6,000 gallons of water per day for
washing and drinking water. Where s all that water going to come from? asked resident Judy
Lemmon. Generalized laughter greeted the OMAFRA rep s suggestion that this amount of water
represented no more than the average use of two households.
Many at the meeting were shocked to learn that no mechanisms for monitoring
intensive livestock operations exist in Ontario and that water quality precautions are
voluntary. Monitoring wells are not mandatory according to the Harris government.
Although Mark Slack, the hog operation s proponent, is required to dig boreholes adjacent
to the barn, these holes do not have to be monitored -- except by the operator, on an
honour system.
What about my child with asthma? asked Diane St. Louis. I have been told the gases will
irritate his lungs. OMAFRA representative, Steve Redmond, replied that planting trees
around the lagoon would reduce odours. The worst time for the smell, he noted, was between
seven and eleven in the evening, so children would be out of school. Residents, well aware
of how long trees take to grow, were unconvinced by the testimonials of Slack’ s
experts.
Slack claims that the million-dollar operation is a family farm. He paints a
bucolic portrait of himself and his wife, Sarah, tending to their one hour and fifteen
minutes of chores a day in the sow barn. Claiming that intensive livestock operations
(ILOs) are the family farms of today, Slack states that no one would have complained if he
had 140 sows twenty years ago. People do not understand that a 1,400-hog factory farm is
the family farm of today, he argues.
Slack does not take kindly to opposition especially when it comes from his neighbours. You’ve
got a circle of command that are looking for a way out of approving the operation, he told
the AgriNews, an Achilles heel, with absolutely zero tolerance.
Slack previously applied to set up in Tyendinaga Township, but an interim by-law
prohibited new construction. He then re-applied in February to Stone Mills Township, where
the municipal council finds itself is caught between irate citizens and a stubborn
operator. Deputy Reeve, Doug Bearance, holds that simply not issuing a building permit is
the best way out of the dilemma. No matter what decision is made, a lawsuit will follow.
If no permit is issued, Slack may appeal to the Normal Farm Practices Board, a provincial
watchdog charged with ensuring the right to farm. Or he will fight the municipality for
lost income in divisional court. If a permit is issued, the citizens will sue.
According to Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario: No one has the
right to pollute. But no one has the right to stop a factory hog farms either. At the
recent conference in London entitled Sustainable Livestock Farms and Healthy Communities
-- Miller could only suggest that citizens facing mega hog operations bring forward
pollution information for investigation.
Meanwhile, residents of Erinsville feel that they are losing both quality of life and a
clean environment Property values have dropped around Erinsville, and real estate is not
moving. Nothing has sold in over a month and people are upset. Now, they cannot move.
Factory farms promise to be good neighbours and environmental stewards, said Scott Dye, a
former farmer now the Agricultural Coordinator for the Sierra Club of the United States.
They promise economic growth and jobs. But they don t deliver. Dye, who assists rural
communities threatened by intensive livestock operations, sees other options: Factory
farming is not a natural or inevitable development in agriculture.
Is factory farming without accountability the only choice? For the hamstrung
residents of Erinsville, that answer is unacceptable.
Jill Sherrill Smith teaches women s studies at Queen s and Trent universities.
She is a member of the Concerned Citizens for Our Community Environments.
_________________________________________________
Jill Sherrill Smith
Institute of Women's Studies, Queen's University, Kingston
Program in Women's Studies, Trent University, Peterborough
Box 26, Marlbank, ON, K0K 2L0
Zen saying: "If you want to know where you are, look down at your feet."