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e , C 0F. 3 ( ~qpuge cce te oc c (C 2P C U T T P 9 S J # B M U T20 O olcoodcccrccmmmememmmmemmmmamemmemut ooo 00 . Farm ‘t kill their livelihood : â€"Colbcezra¢ pHiLe A By Joyce CaCs)sDiri- 2 .2, /9/2%6 of resources." 1 the agricultural industry, as 70 . noâ€"till farmer, and noâ€"till farmers jeassin@northumberlandtoday.com _Hg says the 'env1ronment per cent of what is grown on the â€"depend on earthworms tp do the &A ) & 7 h ministry does soil tests before . land and fed to the livestock goes job of the tiller, and he finds the The issue of spraying biosolids â€" recommending the quantity of back into the land. earthworms are alive and well on farmlands has some people biosolids to be used. One "People without livestock are â€" and doing their jobs. ig upset, but farmers say they are â€" recommendation he received was â€" scrabbling for nutrients," he says, "I am a good steward of the 1 . J being good stewards of the land tnat 6,000 E "And there are a | land," said Mr. Honey. "If I do . that furnishes their livelihoods. gallons per acre cuoenie mouame: ‘ lot of nutri & imental to the land, Norham farmer Bill Honey . pespread Third in a special Nbl rdrlsnts esd e * L. Tihood." ¢ says he spreads biosolids on his "It _ _ may investigative series T]?Z([)-el & is IaIXr?ém l ?grov;nsh‘i)edof? is § landts' a% D}«'lirt bOf good, farm â€" sound like a lot, nb bibisistGEdIthD concern from a concerne?ds, Mr. Honey says P18 K F ; practice. He has been farming his but . _it‘s on farm fields. Warkworth manure is 10 ~times more : $ ; property just east of Warkworth equivalent to "citizens‘ group â€" malododrous than biosolids. h for over 30 years and says he about oneâ€"quarter inch of rain," â€" that biosolids are contaminating _ Asked if he was concerned with | knows farming and what‘s good he said. "The MoE is pretty: their wells and making them and the possibility of pharmaceuticals PR f01‘“tIh3 131;)‘1 anc} ,Vé’h%t isn‘t. t careful. They don‘t allow it to be.. their animals ill, creating an â€" or disease in the biosolids, he said they’rzegooods%o; :heef:rl:;e” S:ied spread on slopes or near unbearable stench, as well as he believes the environment 4 F 6 : Mr. He "If I coâ€" to with watercourses. There are a lot of destroying the farmlands of ministry . assurances that > r, Hongy,. coâ€"operate W1 guidelines to follow." Ontario to the point that biosolids areâ€" safe if used ‘ f the (Ministry of the Environment) H j . * es > i noommenaatiank it‘s 7 e says livestock farms are â€" earthworms are dying. * « w s vongemeyens 249 ts known to have the best soils in Mr. Honey argues that he is a ; Continued on page 3 Farmers won‘t EiN their loclibood flmeVS won t Z t 627/‘ lve 1P 00 Continued from page 1 : k gLpSLDG LiR ces 24 o5 4 po { i according to guidelj.nesw Aeb 2 / Northumberland Federation of Agriculture â€" "I also believe in the dilution factor," he * : (NFA). "Walkerton was runâ€"off into the | _ said. "The biosolids are 97â€"perâ€"cent water." ; wells but the (environment ministry) takes . ‘,.;_Hevsellys that when.spread on the lands surface water into account (in its according to ministry guidelines and f* guidelines)." | setbacks, the fertilizer is soaked up by the . He says the use of human waste as land right away, eliminating the possibility f fertilizer is much the same as using of runâ€"off into streams and rivers, just like manure from any other animal. FJ | any fertilizer. "I do believe they are completing the Myrna Simpson, assistant professor of t f MV cycle of life, unlike that of dumping them environmental science, associate director of _ into landfills," said Mr. Gallagher. We aJ;,l * the Environmental NMR Centre, and f en M danptr yc eat food, and our excrement has nutrients. De_partmgent of Physical and Environmental L * Q us ie f He says biosolids are good fertilizer {md : Sciences at the University of Toronto, says 0. e ; , nc W tsmms s save farmers the expense of buyinSs > that overâ€"applications of any manure will k inudi * hb / > SSE commercial fertilizer. He expects fertilizer saturate the soil and create runâ€"off, as the | oatidttnamonttihnhihicsiice s w ~ ~yaqpane. . . 1 d TREREAE for an acre of corn this year to be between soil‘s ability to hold onto nutrients and We ul . pyo J in C ot . & 1| $100 and $120, and biosolids can replace chemicals is finite, but she agreed that if e oi o 1. ty e se‘ ie wame va Tor approximately twoâ€"thirds of that, saving a biosolids are applied properly, there should | _ â€" h 3 farmer between $67 and $80 an acre. ‘\be very few, if any, issues with runâ€"off. 7 Mr. Gallagher says he doesn‘t use A Â¥ Other farmers such as the McCanns in i 9 . $ biosolids, and has never applied to the Mol 1 Codrington have used biosolids and Cathy |____ se cce A Â¥!. lhek 757. to see if he qualifies, not because there is McCann says they have had no problems 4 sidanit 27 t i ) > cphan w smeat anything wrong with it, but because he‘s with their applications and don‘t see any +M n : Aoal‘h sublcm Nipe WnB . sn ty s 5+A PE C~ 4 PSE yewt concerned about what his neighbours t reassl?n why they wouldn‘t use them again. h & would think. ( e said soil tests are done on a regular _ _ Suamnteo PHoto rs are dead set 4 basis and nothing irregular has shown up, Biosolids are spread on a Northumberland County farmer‘s field. agali_IiisSta 3tr1318t }l’f,‘szsé’fn%,eflfgfi?gs because they nor has anyone reported illnesses or any : Mr. H m Aut 4 worry it may contain pharmaceuticals, other complaints. ) f r. Harder says there are significant savings t0 | disease.and bacteria, but they all understand why others Everything is very well managed," said Mrs. McCann. _ farmers, as much as $100 to $250 an acre, by using the . wse them, so it hasn‘t been a big issue at the NFA level. Dexter Harder of Northumberland Grain says heâ€" ‘"free" biosolids on their croplands in addition to existing "We have to believe that some of our regulatory doesn‘t use biosolids because he‘s in the fertilizer business feI:t‘fllzers. : f P agencies are doing their jobs," said Mr. Gallagher. and he doesn‘t want to create any problems for his Farmers are suffering so they‘re doing what they have .. _ "In general, we‘re using the best information and livelihood, ) M to,';(})lhaglg in there," suggested Mrs. McCann. _ technology we have today, but research hasn‘t ended,"" 4 T,he_y (the environment ministry) say they guarantee e Ontario Federation of Agriculture doesn‘t see any gaid Northumberlandâ€"Quinte West MPP Lou Rinaldi. "The | @ what‘s in it, and it might be exactly what they‘re saying, problems with the use of biosolids on agricultural lands. knowledge we have today shows this is an acceptable & | but I‘m not taking any chances," said Mr. Harder, "I don‘t The MoEF is doing t‘?,StH}g and farmlands aren‘t getting . method. I don‘t think any government would do anything â€" want problems with the public." â€" overloads of nutrients," said Lyle Gallagher, president Of _ to harm its people and environment." m 9t i0 [ mope o ABPO P mt