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"When an activity raises
threats of harm to human health or the environment,
precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and
effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.
In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the
public, should bear the burden of proof." - Wingspread
Statement of the Precautionary Principle. |
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- Council
Approves Funding for Health Foundation (Excerpts) -- Foam Lake
Review -- December 16, 2002
- Information
Meeting January 9 -- Foam Lake Review -- January 6, 2003
- It's
Only My Opinion, But..... -- Foam Lake Review -- January 6, 2003
- Information
Meeting Draws Capacity Crowd -- Foam Lake Review -- January 13, 2003
- Robert
Beckett BSc. -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January 13,
2003
- Jack
Maluga Re: It's Only My Opinion, But..... -- Letters to the Editor --
Foam Lake Review -- January 13, 2003
- Cons
and Pro View of Mega Barns Presented at Meeting -- Foam Lake Review --
January 20, 2003
- Glenn
Helgason, P.Ag. -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January
20, 2003
- Laurie
Kitzul -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January 20, 2003
- Terry
Markusson -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January 20,
2003
- Helgi
Helgason -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January 20,
2003
- Please
Make an Informed Decision -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review
-- January 20, 2003
- Garth
Anderson -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January 20,
2003
- Editor's
Response re: Jack Maluga -- Foam Lake Review -- January 20, 2003
- Editorial....
Making a Considered Difference -- Foam Lake Review -- January 20, 2003
- Marlene
Wunder -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January 27, 2003
- Tom
Adreas -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January 27, 2003
- Walter
Fennuk -- Letters to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review -- January 27, 2003
- RM
Council Plans Hog Barn Vote -- Western Producer
--
February 27, 2003
- Rural Communities Need a Long
Term Plan -- Wadena News -- March 5, 2003
- Hog Barns Are Trouble -- Wadena
News -- March 5, 2003
- Foam
Lake Dumps Hog Barn Idea -- CBC News -- March 7, 2003
- RM rejects hog barns
-- Western Producer --
March 13, 2003
- Letter to the Editor -- Foam Lake Review
-- March 31, 2003
- Ask First -- Western Producer --
April 10, 2003
- Briefing
to Ministers Serby and Belanger -- Regina, SK -- May 14, 2003
- Rural Group
Discusses Mega Hog Issue With Serby, Belanger -- June 6, 2003
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Council
Approves Funding for Health Foundation (Excerpts)
Foam Lake Review
December 16, 2002
Council spent the better part of two hours discussing issues surrounding
the proposed $32 million project being proposed for the Foam Lake area by
Foam Lake Hog Developments and big Sky Farms.
Issues surrounding funding, environmental concerns and local support and
opposition to the project were all rehashed by council and the
delegates. They indicated they would be holding a public meeting to
discuss the project in February to determine if the project would go ahead
or not. Council agreed in a vote of five to one to support the project
financially.
A commitment of $35,000 was made to the project should is proceed past
the public meeting stage. All members of council agreed that the
project was worth supporting financially, however the proportion of town
funding to R.M. funding was the main stumbling block raised. The town
committed $7500 before the end of 2002 and the balance to be budgeted should
the project proceed as the committee expects.
Solie Drilling has been working in the area south of Foam Lake over the
past two weeks and have found several promising sites for well
development. Piezometers will be installed to determine flow rates and
test for water quality will be done to determine if further development is
warranted. Drilling will continue on a number of additional sites to
determine the size and location of the aquifer.
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Information
Meeting January 9
Foam Lake Review
January 6, 2003
There will be a public information meeting of concerned citizens held on
Thursday, January 9 to discuss the impact of the proposed hog barns on Foam
Lake and area. The meeting will be held in the upper hall of the Foam
Lake Community Hall beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Everyone wishing to obtain more information on this project is invited to
attend.
Coffee will be served, all are welcome.
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It's
Only My Opinion, But.....
Foam Lake Review
January 6, 2003
It has always been a challenge, to say the least, to face the deadlines
and headaches of producing a weekly newspaper in a small rural Saskatchewan
town.
Combine that challenge with the stress of trying to work toward bettering
the town by serving as an alderman for more than a decade and you can only
imagine how interesting some days become.
It has become abundantly clear though that the two no longer mix.
It isn't because I am unable to handle both, it is rather, the fact that
I am not willing to see my business suffer because of decisions that I make
as a member of council, even though I believe they are the right
decisions. I make this statement after a rather irate ratepayer of the
Rural Municipality of Foam Lake came into my office and threatened that he
and his neighbours would quit supporting y business and the Town because
council approved funding for Foam Lake Hog Developments, reasoning I still
can't quite figure out.
That threat was, of course, made right after he had accused me of trying
to run he and his wife and their neighbours off of their farms by building
hog barns right next to the farm yards. Something that just is not
true. I was also accused of not doing any research into hog mega barns
before we (council, I guess) approved them. Something else we as
council didn't do.
Truth is, what we did as a council was approve some funding to possibly
develop the hog industry in this area. Truth is this same person,
while accusing me of not doing my own research and relying on someone else
for information is doing exactly the same thing; not doing his own research
and relying on someone else for his information. Most disappointing
though is the fact that some of the information he used while accusing me of
a lack of research was obtained via coffee row.
The fact of the matter is that town council, while supporting the project,
is not spearheading this project and is not in charge of fundraising or any
other part of the project.
The fact of the matter is that the proposed locations of the barns are
just that - proposed locations.
The fact of the matter is that if he would have taken the time to ask a
few questions it would have saved everyone a lot of stress.
The fact of the matter is that there will be a public meeting held early
in the new year to discuss this project. Please feel free to attend
and voice your opinion.
Just don't blame me.
It seems to me that the more you work toward helping your community, the
more trouble you find yourself in.
It really doesn't seem to matter what you do. If you don't try to
bring economic diversity to the community and area, you are ridiculed for
doing nothing for your community.
If you do something in an effort to bring economic diversity and maybe,
just maybe, some growth and opportunity to the area, you are ridiculed for
it because it is the wrong type of project or someone doesn't agree with it
or they view it as a personal attack on themselves.
The problem, it seems to me, is that we are over-stocked with experts.
It's not wonder we can't seem to get things growing.
Bob Johnson
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Information
Meeting Draws Capacity Crowd
Foam Lake Review
January 13, 2003
About 300 people packed the mezzanine of the Community Hall Thursday
evening for an information meeting regarding proposed hog barns in the R.M.
of Foam Lake. The meeting was organized by Concerned Ratepayers, a
loosely knit group who felt the need for an open meeting presenting both the
pro and con sides of large-scale hog operations.
The three-hour meeting, which was opened with a prayer from John Rea, was
chaired by Tom Leader who earned a round of applause for his ability to keep
the lid on a topic that could have become very volatile. "We will
conduct the meeting in an orderly manner. All presenters should be
accorded respect. There is no need for name calling. We can
respect each other's points of view," Leader said. Despite some
personal derogatory remarks make toward council and board members by several
opposing speakers, this respect was mostly adhered to. An initial
decision to reserve the right to ask questions to Foam Lake R.M. ratepayers
and residents of Foam Lake was reversed when ratepayers from the R.M. of
Emerald asked to speak.
The format allowed for an hour's presentation from Foam Lake Hog
Development and an hour from individuals who wished to speak against large
hog operations. There was a ten minute stretch break before question period.
Leader was effective in holding questions and responses to two minutes each,
insisting each speaker be heard out without interruption, and in stopping
any exchange that became a back-and-forth confrontation between two people.
Terry Makusson, Chairman of Foam Lake Hog Development, made the
presentation for the hog development board. Board members Harry Kerr,
Elmer Brown, Chris Gislason, Kris Springer and Gerald Holowaty responded to
questions.
Markusson explained that Foam Lake Hog Development Ltd. was formed
following a presentation made by Purelean Hogs at the March 2002 annual
ratepayers meeting. He outlined the steps that were involved in the
decision to attract a Big Sky production unit to Foam Lake. The proposed
$30 million project includes a 5000 sow to finish operation consisting of
five barns, a feed mill and a truck wash.
"In my opinion, this is the biggest opportunity the Town of Foam
Lake has seen since the railway came in 1907 and this town was
established," said Markusson. "At that time, probably concerned
citizens were voicing their concerns that the railway would set prairie
fires, scare the horses and be a menace to the community. But the fact
remains it was progress then and we feel this is the same type of
progress. So why try to prevent a good thing?"
F.L.H.D. was formed to stimulate economic activity, create employment
opportunities with 40 or 50 permanent jobs and develop an additional market
for feed grain, he said.
Mayor Ray King spoke briefly on behalf of the Town and Reeve Gerlad
Holowaty spoke on behalf of the R.M. of Foam Lake. "The Council
looks on this as economic development," said King. "We have
to look at all ideas for economic development and for jobs in
general." He explained that $35,000 from the Town is a commitment
if the project is approved following the public meeting on February
20. If the barns go ahead, all the money will eventually be refunded.
"The R.M. Council has not made a decision for or against the
barns," said Reeve Holowaty. "It is up to you people."
Most speakers from the con side emphasized the need for the public to
become educated before they launch into the debate. Danny Hoover, who
spoke on the collaborative approach to problem solving, insisted "There
is no Us-Them, only Us. Please weigh the opinions on both sides of
this debate. Then gather as much information as you require to form
your own educated assessment of all the benefits, costs and potential side
effects. We ask you to get educated, then get involved."
Carla Dwernichuk addressed the potential problems of vertical integration
and also asked the crown to "Take an interest. Be informed, pro
and against. Make an informed decision." Mel Johnson said
the Town of Foam Lake could be in danger of air pollution because the proposed
barn sites have higher elevation than the Town. Merv Springer brought
up concerns about the potential for pollution of the Foam Lake Heritage
Marsh.
Marilyn Wunder discussed antibiotics and volume of manure.
"Both sides have not been educated enough to make an educated
decision," she said. Karen Cruickshank, who received a standing
ovation for her brief presentation, asked why "Saskatchewan is pushing
to increase their hog production when Manitoba has a moratorium on any new
barns being built until he spreading of manure can be investigated
further. Robbie Wunder, who is graduating this year and wants to live
in Foam Lake, asked whether other communities have really grown in
population. He suggested a referendum before the final decision is made.
B.J. Wunder encouraged "each of you to take time to consider the
issues. Each of us is responsible for the future," she
said.
The size
of the crowd surprised everyone, including the organizers. Orest
Monych said, " We though hopefully we'd get 12 people out to the
organizing meeting," he said. The group me tin Tuffnell on New
Year's Day and organized the meeting in a week. "We wondered what
feelings were out there, and the only thing we though was that we should
provide a way to inform the public," said Marilyn Wunder.
"It didn't seem like any one knew anything until they saw the circles
drawn on a map when they went into the R.M. office. But what we wanted
was for people to share their ideas."
The size of the crowd and the energy in the room inspired some
wider-ranging ideas. "I challenge you - no, I charge you - if you
don't want the hog operation to proceed, to come out the next time I call a
meeting of the Economic Development Committee," said Alderman Harry
Kerr, who is on the Hog Development Board. Kerr explained that he
invited a large group of people to an economic development meeting and had
two people turn out.
Harnessing the energy was also on Danny Hoover's mind. Hoover mused
that if 300 people could come out on very short notice because they were
concerned about potential development, then there should be some way to
bring those same people into a meeting that would spark the introduction of economic
development they wanted. We need some king of imaginative hook, he
said.
Big Sky is hosting a public meeting on February 20. Although the
rules asked for equations to be submitted in writing in advance of the
meeting, Terry Markusson promised that questions from the floor would be
accepted and addressed.
Next week's Review will present more specific quotations from each of the
presentations.
- Joan Eyolfson Cadham
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Robert
Beckett BSc.
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 13, 2003
Big sky, clear water
Big sky and clear water are two things that Saskatchewan has in
abundance. But some residents are worried that a new neighbour will
change all this.
Big Sky Farms, based in Humboldt, plans to build a factory hog farm in
Foam Lake.
For years, we have taken for granted that there is clean air to breathe,
and fresh groundwater for wells, providing drinking water in town and on
family farms. Big Sky's hog factory could potentially change this way
of life.
One thing is for certain. People in Foam Lake are connected to the
land, and their health and well being depend on it.
Intensive Livestock Operations (ILOs) or factory farms are being heralded
by big business as the saviors of the struggling rural community.
There are a few points to consider before taking this formula for success at
face value.
A factory farm's profits are built on low feed prices, low wages for
employees, cheap land to build their farrowing and finishing facilities, and
environmental standards that allow waste storage and disposal. In communities
across the U.S. and Canada people are beginning to see the price they have
paid for a few jobs.
In fact, the results of several recent studies clearly show that a
factory farm can lead to surface and groundwater contamination, unacceptable
health problems for surrounding landowners and ILO employees, reduction of
the number of local producers and reduced property values. In
addition, the operations require the local municipality to improve infrastructure
and maintain the roads. And the one thing that no one needs to be
reminded of: the unbearable stench of thousands of closely confined hogs.
Lost jobs
There was a time when a farm family could raise a couple of hundred hogs
for market each year and make a living. ILOs typically raise 100,000
hogs per year and walk away with the profits for their corporate
shareholders. If we assume a small producer raises 400 hogs on
average, a single ILO will replace the market share of 250 small farmers,
not to mention the reduction in price due to mass production.
The jobs created by this project are low wage shift work positions, and
research has clearly demonstrated that hog manure is corrosive and can cause
respiratory problems in as much of 70% of ILO employees. I would think
twice before encouraging a family member to apply there for work.
Precious water
Foam Lake is surrounded by lakes and streams. There is also a
supply of groundwater flowing through the ground under Foam Lake's water
table that is fed by rainwater. Groundwater is constantly in motion,
flowing along the contours of the land and feeding our streams, rivers and
lakes. If this finite, vulnerable resource is contaminated it is
impossible to reverse the damage during a person's lifetime.
We tap into groundwater by drilling a well in a location where
groundwater moves easily thought he ground, quickly replacing water that is
pumped out.
If an ILO is constructed, they will build a massive lagoon to store
liquid manure. A clay liner is all that separates this waste from the
area's well water. In addition, they apply liquid manure to the soil
to dispose of it. These practices definately put the area's surface
and groundwater supply at risk. In fact, it is hard to imagine clay or
soil providing an effective barrier against these harmful pollutants.
Imagine Milligan Creek, the town's drinking water reservoir and Fishing Lake
contaminated with bacteria and waste.
Another potential stress on Foam Lake's groundwater is that an ILO will
require large amounts of water to support their extensive day0-to-day
operations. When you consider that hogs will consume roughly three
times the amount of water as a human, the local aquifer would have to
support the equivalent of 300,000 people, People who share groundwater
aquifers with large extraction projects such as this should expect changes
in their supply. Like a thin sponge lying over the surface of the
earth, the groundwater can be seriously depleted of extractable water if put
under enough stress. This will, no doubt, reduce the value of the
surrounding land for people relying on it.
Threatened air quality and health
As well as the potential harm to the water supply, the decrease in air
quality should be considered. Studies have shown several adverse
health effects related to living close to an ILO due to the corrosive nature
of hog manure. According to Sierra Club, symptoms can include
headaches, nausea, and irritation of the eyes, respiratory tract and
skin. In fact, doctors are so concerned that in the summer of 2001,
the Canadian Medical Association passed a resolution asking governments to
put a moratorium on hog farms, at least until the health risks are
studied. In a country where we take good health for granted, this is
very alarming.
Devalued land
Along with the threat to water, air and health, studies have shown that
property values decrease within smelling distance of an ILO. For
farmers whose financial equity is the value of the land, this is a cause for
great economic concern.
It is important to stop the factory farm Big Sky Farms wants to build in
Foam Lake.
Use your vice. Make your concerns known to the members of the municipal
council. Talk to your neighbours. There are public meetings in
Foam Lake to discuss this proposed project. It will not proceed if
people speak out against it. The town of Hardisty, Alberta didn't want
ILOs, and put their good values to work to stop the proposed development.
A similar victory was achieved in the county of Forty Mile, Alberta where
the Taiwan Sugar Co attempted to build an ILO. Information on the
subject is abundant, including articles by CTV, CBC, Sierra Club, Macleans's,
www.factoryfarm.org
and several others. This is your town, your land, your water.
Have your say and make sure that Foam Lake continues to be "The best
place in the world to live."
Robert Beckett BSc.
Geophysical Engineering
Robert is a former Foam Lake resident who lives in Calgary and works
for Kalman Technolgies, an Oil Service Company.
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Re:
It's Only My Opinion, But.....
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 13, 2003
I have a number of thoughts after reading bob Johnson's January 6th
column about the mega hog development issue in the Foam Lake area.
First, I agree with Mr. Johnson that it is unfortunate that discussion on
the issue has become acrimonious. However, perhaps Mr. Johnson should
understand the people who will have their lives negatively effected by these
mega farms, have by the very nature of the process, been excluded from any
meaningful input. If the pattern in Foam Lake follows the pattern
elsewhere in rural Saskatchewan, they will neither be consulted nor asked
for their opinion in the form of a vote or plebiscite. So naturally,
they are left feeling quite powerless.
Meanwhile, how much time and money has already been spent behind the
scenes by Foam Lake town council, the hog development committee and Big Sky
Farms, to get this project to its current stage? For heavens sake,
according to a story in your December 2nd paper, some test holes have already
been dug! Don't you think local people should have been asked if this
is the type of 'economic development' they want to attract to the area,
before going this far?
Once this process starts rolling, it's pretty hard to stop.
Because Big Sky also wants to build a 5,000 sow operation in the RM of
Lakeside, in the Big Quill Lake area, I have been closely studying this
industry for the past year or more. I travelled to Foam Lake on
December 105h to pick up the information being handed out by the
proponents. That day, at least, it appeared there was no great
enthusiasm for the project - as only three people, besides myself, had down
up by the end of the day. However, for this project to go ahead, there
really doesn't have to be a great deal of support from the public - just
apathy, and a lack of opposition.
I hope the good people in Foam Lake area aren't under the impression
they're going to be getting something special, if you do attract a mega hog
complex. These developments are dividing neighbours and splitting
communities wherever they go. Strictly on an economic basis, given the
low price of pork and the high price of feed, these multi-million dollar
developments just don't add up. This winter, provincial government
loan programs are the only thing keeping them going.
As for an upcoming public meeting on the issue, let's hope some speakers
are invited who can give an alternative point of view to Sask Pork, Sask.
Food and Agriculture and Big Sky Farms. Otherwise, going from past
experience, I can already tell you what you will hear:
1) You'll be told that having open cesspools and hug barns holding tens
of thousands of hogs, scattered around your rural municipality, is an
opportunity you just can't pass up.
2) You'll be told that repeated and prolonged application of liquid hog
manure is cheap fertilizer, and good for the soil
3) You'll be told that jobs in hog barns are the future for your young
people.
You WON'T be told that the tax benefits of these projects are almost nil;
how much money the town and RM will have to spend for soil and water studies
and road construction; or that residents in other rural areas have forced
these hog mega farms to look elsewhere.
And I'm sure you won't be told that at their annual meeting last August,
the Canadian Medical Association expressed their concerns about the risk to
public health in rural areas from industrial hog farms, and asked the
various levels of government for a moratorium on the expansion of the
industry.
But that's just my opinion.
- Jack Maluga
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Cons
and Pro View of Mega Barns Presented at Meeting
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
During the Jan. 8th information meeting regarding the proposed mega-hog
barn development in the R.M. of Foam Lake, Terry Markusson, Chairman of Foam
Lake Hog Developments Ltd., spoke for the pro side. Although there is
no official organized group, to avoid confusion, the speakers for the con
side were identified as the Concerned Ratepayers Group. FLHD provided
information brochures and the Concerned Ratepayers provided posters and
pamphlets. Following the formal presentations, there were questions
and answers.
Last week's Review provided an overview of the meeting. As
promised, this article will provide direct quotations from the formal
presentations. In the interests of accuracy, the local reporter has
copies of those presentations. For the pro side, there will be
quotations from Markusson and from the information brochure. For the
con side, there will be quotations from five of the eight formal
presentations, chosen by the local reporter, as representative of the
questions and concerns raised, given that an article containing material
from all nine would be repetitious and much too wordy. There is also a
quotation from Foam Lake's mayor, Ray King.
From the Information Brochure, page 4/5:
"The project... produces in excess of 116,000 market hogs per
year. Big Sky's Production Units operate on a three site format.
The Breeder/Farrow barn, the Nursery barn and the Feeder/Finisher barns are
physically segregated from one another. Under this format each
production unit consists of:
"A Breeder/Farrow barn with the capacity for approximately 5,000
sows, plus boars and gilts, in which all aspects of housing, feeding,
breeding, gestation and farrowing of the sows are managed. The
Breeder/Farrow barn produces approximately 2,400 piglets per week which are
housed and fed in this barn until the age of 14 - 19 days when they are
weaned and transported to the Nursery barn.
"One nursery barn with eh capacity to house, feed and manage 19,200
weanling pigs. Weanlings are fed for seven to eight weeks reaching an
average weight of 27 kilograms;
"Three Finisher barns on three separate sites, 2 barns with the
capacity to house 14, 400 animals and one barn with the capacity to house
12,000 animals.
"A feed mill similar to Big Sky's mills at Ogema and Rama plus a
large scale at a centralized location. This feed mill will supply the
feed for the production unit. The feed mill manager will also be
responsible for purchasing locally grown grains."
From the presentation by Dan Hoover, local farmer, member of Concerned
Ratepayers:
"The dilemma as I and a great many others see it is not this project
which has aroused so much attention but, more importantly, the process which
was used to conceive and implement a development of this magnitude with so
little input from those most directly affected.
"This is not surprising, and Foam Lake is not by any means a unique
case. Communities are always struggling to promote a creative,
effective, efficient decision-making forum. We usually get to where we
are right now because some group has conceived a solution to a perceived problem
and fails, for whatever reason, to garner enough public participation during
the infancy stage.
"Sooner or later, a project of importance will pit forces at
odds. Where some see a solution to local economic development, others
view the same idea with grave concern and reservation. Fear is always
the first reaction to change and anger always the first reaction to
fear. Without communication, major problems will erupt... We may never
all agree on everything, but through a collaborative approach to problem
solving, surely we can extract the maximum benefit at the least cost to our
community from this or any other project."
Terry Markusson, Chairman, FLHD:
"In March of 2002, at the annual ratepayers meeting of the R.M. of
Foam Lake, the idea of hog barns was discussed. A presentation was
made by Purelean Hogs. They offered their technology and management
skills with a new concept for handling the waste material. This
community would have to raise the money to finance and build the whole
operation.
"At this time we decided to form the Foam Lake Hog Developments
Ltd. After speaking with community leaders from Ogema and Porcupine
Plain we were impressed by their positive attitudes... We felt if we could attract
a Big Sky Production unit to Foam Lake it would give us the greatest
economic impact of any of the hog operations we investigated. The
proposed 30 million dollar project includes a 5000 sow to finish operation
consisting of five barns, a feed mill and a truck wash.
"The agreement offered to us by Big Sky was they would finance the
construction of the whole operation if we would be responsible for finding
and funding suitable sites, testing for water supply, obtaining the right to
inject manure in a three mile radius of a barn and checking that the soil
formation was suitable for manure storage. Our committee studied the
RM maps and picked 11 possible sites in the Foam Lake RM... Big Sky favours
five sites south of Foam Lake but the studies have yet to be
completed."
Mervyn Springer, local farmer, member of Concerned Ratepayers.
"A traditional hog farm requires 10 people to produce a thousand
finished hogs. A factory hog barn employs 1.7 to 3.2 workers to
produce a thousand finished hogs. We all agree that we have to do
something in this regard to keep our community alive. It is my
proposal that we keep the present jobs and expand on them.
"The Milligan Bio Diesel venture is one such area where expansion
would be a definite possibility; that committee has worked hard and long in
their efforts to foster a bio-diesel industry. With financial support
and incentives by the Town of Foam Lake Development Board, I am sure that
would result in more job opportunities. There is also a proposal to
develop a pellitizing plant at Kelliher to fusing grain screenings for
cattle feed.
"One of the fastest growing industries in Saskatchewan is tourism
and, in particular, bird watching. We are very fortunate that the Foam
Lake Heritage marsh is in our back yard. This site has been described
as the Jewel in the Crown of the migration route for ducks, geese and
migrating waterfowl. The near proximity of the Marsh to Canada's
second Trans-Canada Highway along with readily accessible shoreline offers
enthusiastic birders from all parts of the world an experience which we all
take for granted. Plans are afoot to spend $270,000 to improve the
tourism industry in the Foam Lake, Wynyard and Wadena marshland areas.
This is an industry that definitely thrives on clean air and clean water,
two of our biggest natural resources."
Terry Markusson, Chairman of FLHD:
"One major benefit to farmers in the Foam Lake area is a market for
feed grain. A 5000 Sow to Finish hog operation will use the grain from
about 35,000 acres. At today's prices, comparing the Foam Lake Pool
elevator price and the price at Big Sky Feed Mill located in Rama there is
about a $36 per acre gain by selling to the feed mill. This amounts to
about a one million dollar gain to farmers in the Foam Lake RM each
year. Big Sky Farms has agreed in writing to FLHD that they will give
the local farmers first opportunity to sell to their feed mill providing the
grain meets their feed specs."
Marlyn Wunder, farmers, 100 cow/calf operation, member of Concerned
Ratepayers:
"In doing the calculations set out by our governing bodies, it is
said that unit equals one cow and one cow is equal to 3 sows or 6 feeders or
20 weanlings. The proposed three finishing barns will hold... a total
of 40,800 head of pigs... There are approximately 2725 head of cattle
located in a radius of 7½ miles from the centre of Foam Lake. This
means the manure is being spread on 116,480 acres. Is there room for
expansion in this area?
"The risks are out there and, to date, I feel that both sides have
not been examined carefully enough to make an educated decision. A
recent study by Dr. Rustam I. Aminov and colleagues of the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used a method to detect antibiotic resistance
genes in bacterial DNA extracted from water lagoons near two swine
farms. The investigators found that the bacteria carrying the
resistance genes had seeped into the underlying ground water and could be
detected as far as 820 feet downstream of the lagoons."
Terry Markusson, Chairman of FLHD:
"We have spoken to Big Sky and to Milligan Bio-Tech and promoted the
idea of sharing a location and working together in a mutually beneficial
arrangement. Oil and meal from Milligan Bio-Tech could be used in Big
Sky's feed ration, making it more feasible for the Milligan Bio-Tech project
to go ahead.
"If this project goes ahead as planned, FLHD is also promoting the
idea of building a small abattoir and packing plant to process a small
amount of the hogs. If this proves successful it could be expanded to
handle the whole production. Big Sky has committed that they
will supply the hogs to be processed."
Karen Cruickshank, local farmer, Concerned Ratepayer:
"Our home is located 1½ miles from the proposed site of the
weanling barn. Roughly 130 acres of the surrounding land to this pig
barn where we assume the manure will be applied drains directly into our
water supply... How and why were the locations of the sites chosen?
"Why is Saskatchewan pushing to increase their hog production when Manitoba
has a moratorium on any new barns being built until the spreading of manure
can be investigated further? Will the concentration of manure within a
two mile radius of barns cause a salt and heavy metal build up in
soils? Will the antibiotics in the daily feed rations get into our
water supply or kill the soil organisms?
"Generally, gases and odors produced in close confinement hog
facilities are the result of bacterial action on biodegradable parts of hog
waste. The gasses produced are methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide and
hydrogen sulfide. Oil field workers are required to have hydrogen
sulfide safety certifications. Since barn workers could potentially be
exposed to this gas, are they required to have a valid safety
certificate? Is it true these pollutants collect in and follow low
lying areas? If this is the case, does this mean that these
odors/gasses will collect in the Town of Foam Lake, being that it is
substantially lower than all of the proposed barn sites? As the barns
get older, does the stench get worse?
Terry Markusson, Chairman, FLHD:
"We know the reason this meeting has been called is because of the
concern of both air and water pollution. Liquid manure from the
holding pits will be used for fertilizer in a three mile radius of each barn
site. The surrounding land will be soil tested annually. There
should be no concern regarding leaching into surface water as it gets
absorbed into the soil.
"Concerning air pollution there are definately problems in
this area. Our group studied the RM map. We tried to pick
possible sties that had the greatest distance from occupied farm
yards. We also tried to keep in mind that the prevailing winds in this
area are from the north west... The only reason we picked the 11 possible
sites is we felt if barns were located in any of these areas fewer families
would be subjected to odour.
"We know the question will be asked why there were no sites picked
north of Foam Lake. Big Sky Farms preferred having the barns south of
Foam Lake and we honoured their choice."
Robbie Wunder, local student, 4-H member, Volunteer, National Science
Fair winner:
"I plan to live here and raise a family here. Have other
communities really grown in population as a result of large hog
operations? This is my opinion. I am 18. I am an
adult. I think we should have a referendum on the question of large
hog operations."
Speaking on behalf of the Town, Mayor Ray King said that the Town has
committed $7500 to FLHD. "Following the public meeting on Feb.
20, Council will decide if the balance of the requested $35,000 will be
approved," he said. "We support all economic development in
our area but are concerned that the R.M. has not 'committed' their $35,000,
which we were advised was a 'given' by FLHD. The agreement states that
the Town of Foam Lake will be reimbursed, regardless of the R.M.'s
actions."
-Joan Eyolfson Cadham
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Glenn
Helgason, P.Ag.
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
I have seen the hog debate get more and more divided in the past few
weeks. I think that Foam Lake and it's surrounding area residents
should start looking at where we want our community to be 20 years from
now. If you have already given up or don't care, please don't stand in
the way of those that do. We can either keep the current trend of our
population decreasing, business sector declining, health care and education
systems being downsized, or we can try to maintain and increase our
population and keep the services at what we have. How do we keep our
population the same - jobs for our citizens. The assumption that we
can sit on our hands and hope that the perfect industry falls into our laps
is completely unrealistic and will never happen. I hope the hog
development project will be a start to eh economic development that is needed.
Milligan Bio-Tech (Canola crushing plant, bio-diesel plant) is an industry
that has been on the drawing board for years, will there also be a group of
concerned citizens that will oppose it as well? It was not very long
ago that the opposition to the community hall was significant with petitions
and plebiscites, and ironically some of the same individuals are opposed
again.
What are the advantages of this project?
1) Jobs - whether there are 50 or 30 jobs created, it is still a payroll
into your area. Will this make your sons and daughters move back to
Foam Lake to repopulate the area, likely not. Will it help families
that are presently here stay here, quite possibly, and will it bring some
new families into the area, yes. These jobs are good paying jobs with
benefit packages of health, dental and bonus incentives.
2) A source for our grain and some economic activity for our business sector
- this is the greatest advantage of the barn project. The savings from
freight on what we produce in the area on 1.5 million bushels of grain is
huge. Even if everyone does not supply grain to the barn, it creates
another market for what this area produces. Opponents will say that
the grain is all US corn, but do they know there was more corn grown in
Canada in 2002 than barley. This is a unique year where corn has been
brought in to supplement the poorer quality crops grown in western Canada (ie
light weight grains) and on an average year, the freight costs would take
corn out of the rations. Let's look at this as an opportunity, if corn
is the most economical feed, let's grow it here - the technology is there,
but without a local market it is not economical. There will be some spin-offs
from not only the construction, but also the day to day operations of the
barns that will help our local businesses. I realize that everything
will not be solely purchased locally, but a good portion will. Take a
close look at your own purchasing habits locally before passing judgment.
3) Attract other new development - there is a beneficial link that can be
made between a hog barn project and the Milligan Bio-Tech project. Why
can't we put our efforts into developing an alliance with such companies as
Drake Meat Processors to process hogs locally? Will this help develop
a trucking and feed mill industry that can compliment a beef feedlot?
We can not raise the millions of dollars to set up these barns, but we sure
can try to raise the smaller capital to build the industries that can spin
off as a result of the barns. These are true opportunities that the
community can invest in, and reap all the benefits.
4) Land Values - I am quite suspect of the opinion that land values will
decline with the introduction of hog barns into the RM. My experience
has seen land values increase in any area where off farm employment has been
available as a result of industry, even hog barns. There will
obviously be the value of the hog manure as a local source of
fertilizer, just like cow manure has an inherent value.
I realize that there will be some smells from the barns. These
barns will have to adhere to all environmental regulations and we can rely
on technology on barn design to continue to reduce the odour from the barns
compared to those constructed in the past. We have to realize that we
live in rural Saskatchewan and have farming as our main livelihood. Do
we not have smell from cattle farms in the area? We learn to live with
the odd smell, just like the one from the lagoon adjacent to the Town of
Foam Lake to the NW. The Sierra Club is against ILOs but wouldn't they
be against how we all presently grow crops and raise any livestock, other
than a complete organic method of agriculture.
In closing, I can only ask that the people of our community identify the
facts from the fiction and fear, and make an informed decision. I
challenge the committee opposed to the barns to lead with alternatives to
the hog barns that will stimulate significant economic activity and
jobs. This project hopefully will bring these new ideas to reality,
with these new individuals leading them. I for one would like to see
Foam Lake's population 20 years from now at 2000 and not 200 - remember - we
as a community have turned down a lot of industries in the past.
Glen Helgason, P.Ag.
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Laurie
Kitzul
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
My name is Laurie Kitzul married to Dale Kitzul. We have 4
children, farm agriculture land and recently diversified into raising Bison
for meat and breeding stock. I am currently working at the Foam Lake
Jubilee nursing home. I have been very involved with the community on
volunteer committees. Foam Lake is my home.
I attended the Hog Development Information meeting on Jan. 9th. The
meeting was well attended and Tom Leader did a good job chairing the evening.
This is a large undertaking of investigating the possibilities for economic
development in our community. Many hours of volunteer time has been
dedicated by the Foam Lake Hog Development Committee. These are a
group of LOCAL citizens with wives, children, grandchildren and other family
members living in this area. I know all the committee members. I
know they are not out to poison my 4 children, husband, family and
friends... doing so would be poisoning their own families.
Strong emotions brought to this meeting by some members of the opposing
group were not taken well. Yelling at the committee and making mention
of intimidating with a shot gun... no comparison... ideas, information and
suggestions have never hurt anyone.
I agree with Danny Hoover - collaborative problem solving... working
together to a workable solution.
One disappointment for the evening I have goes to the Mayor of Foam
Lake... Ray King. His comment, "I didn't know I would be asked to
speak" come on!!! An issue of such importance as this... the
Mayor should have made sure he was on the agenda to speak on behalf of the
Town Council regarding their involvement. Rumors don't get stopped
until there are answers.
This is a very important decision - with time, questions and answers
hopefully we can come to a solution. Something like Big Sky Farms is
needed.
Nevin Halyk touched on a business opportunity missed: the Wynyard Chicken
Plant. Leon's Manufacturing is another business I have heard could
have been in Foam Lake. Nevis said he has no real answers to the truth
of this... maybe now is the time to answer these questions regarding missed
opportunities.
Let's work together and keep our community alive.
- Laurie Kitzul
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Terry
Markusson
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
The Foam Lake Hog Development Committee would like to bring it to your
attention that there is a premature petition being circulated within the RM
of Foam Lake against the proposed hog development project.
Please DO NOT sign this petition until after the Feb. 20 information
meeting being held at 7:00 PM at the Foam Lake Community Hall.
There will be experts in attendance from Big Sky Farms, Sask Ag &
Food, Sask Water, Sask Health and other agencies willing to answer
questions. The meeting will be run as follows: speakers will
express positive views then there will be an opportunity to have your
questions answered. There are many positive developments from this
project to consider which could be a great benefit to this community.
Don't be swayed by negativity, listen to both sides, weight the information
and then make an informed decision.
- Terry Markusson, Chairman of Foam Lake Hog Developments Ltd.
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Helgi
Helgason
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
Anytime I hear that a possibility to draw a new industry to our area is
possible I get very excited and interested. The very existence of our
community will depend on some industry locating here in the near
future. Should we lose any of our present infrastructure, whether it
be our doctor, health care or recreation facility, school, elevator or
business, the job of growing our community will become much more difficult
to achieve.
I am told that the meeting on Jan. 9th was attended by a large number of
people, which is great. We need to be vigilant about our environment
and the effects we expose our neighbours and friends to. However, if
these concerns can be satisfied with a reasonable degree of certainty, then
I would say let's not kill the goose that may lay the golden egg for
our area.
The environmental water quality is the greatest concern I would have in
the proposed hog industry that is being contemplated here. When I
heart that situation or some terrible problem has arisen in some intensive
livestock operation somewhere, it is a concern. However if you heard
about it you can be assured that the environmental people have heard about
it also. When environmentalists hear about these problems, the problem
becomes a positive, because they can now factor that incident into their
safety calculations.
There are a number of livestock operations in our area and I have three
questions to ask of them.
1. Have you had an environmental assessment done on your
operation? If the answer is "yes", that's great. If
the answer is "no", why haven't' you?
2. If you have had an assessment done, are you adhering to the
regulations? If you area, I commend you for that. If you're not,
then probably you are a cause for concern.
3. Do you feel that the regulations to livestock operations are
adequate for the safety of the environment and society? If you do,
then why is the environmental regulations for the hog industry not
adequate? If you do not, then why are you not taking your case to the
environmental regulators?
If any of us figure our feces do not smell we should think again.
Whenever a septic tank is emptied, odor is emitted, we tolerate it and carry
on with our lives. When a feedlot is cleaned out the smell lingers for
some time, we tolerate it. When a hog facility lagoon is emptied and
injected into the fields there will be a bit of an odor for a shot time, but
can tolerate that.
In conclusion I think it is time we all put on our common sense hats, and
use logical reasoning as a guide for our arguments, on both sides of the
issue. When our concerns for water safety and reasonable odor control
are met, by environmental controls and regulations, then I am certain that
this industry will bring good benefits to our community.
If we oppose any decision then we should bring an alternative solution to
be considered. Let us not get all steamed up so we huff and puff and
try to blow down the little pigs house, without real good reason.
- Helgi Helgason
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Please
Make an Informed Decision
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
We want to congratulate the Foam Lake Hog Development Committee for
attending the meeting of concerned citizens of this community held on Thurs.
Jan. 9th at the Community Hall. We can appreciate the time spent by
the committee studying and analyzing the new technology of the hog
"barns".
We can relate to hog barns as we had approximately 150 - 200 hog in a
barn on our farm. We used the "old fashioned shovel" to
clean the pens and the manure spreader to fertilize our fields and in turn
saving money on fertilizer. Being is this situation for approximately
20 years we or our children haven't suffered any related health problems.
After reading the pamphlet the "Hog committee" presented
to us we can appreciate the new technology for this type of project.
Government regulations protect us from "contaminated wells" and
"unbearable odours".
We can relate to our first community hall information meeting.
There were a lot of concerned individuals. Many though there was no
need for a community hall. Many were afraid of higher taxes. As
a result of those concerns the project was delayed. After several
information meetings the committee and the community worked together and as
a result with fund raising projects, individual donations, and many
volunteers who spent many hours of their time using hammers and plaster
knowledge, we now have a beautiful facility that we can be proud of which is
used daily and weekly. There were no increases of taxation.
Shortly we will be celebrating "the burning of the mortgage".
We can also relate to the "pyrogy makers". This project
was started in our house. At that time there was a lot of criticism
from the public. Remarks like "Do you think you can build a hall
with pyrogies". That was not our intent but the women of this
community wanted to contribute in a small way towards the Hall
project. If you study the chart in the dining room on the wall of the
Community Hall you will be amazed at the contributions we made to this
facility. At this time we want to thank the strong will and hard work
of the present committee that pursued the project to this day. We are
still making and selling pyrogies to families near and far.
Then came the idea of the "Combine Lotto".
Congratulations to the committee that pursued this idea. The tickets
are "sold out" yearly and the profit from this project has
upgraded our Recreation Centre, contributed to the hall project and the golf
course. We are fortunate to have determined committees that work
towards the good of our community.
Another example of long term determination of individuals is Milligan
Bio-Tech. After many years of planning and study they are starting to
realize their goals. One of the co-products of Milligan Operation will
e Canola Meal which can be suitable feed stock for the "Hog Plant
Operation".
If communities don't take control of their own destiny though managing
new local initiatives they will be left with only memories of what could
have been in our community.
We need committees to study and pursue projects for the good of our young
generation. To create employment for them in our own province.
We need to keep our teachers and nurses here. Our graduated
accountants, veterinarians feed analysts and secretaries will find jobs in
our community.
An agriculture student might which to take over the family farm and also
work as an accountant etc. in our newest idea "the hog barn" and
in Milligan Bio Tech.
Our town will benefit. They empty homes will be
occupied. Our motels, restaurants and stores will be used to capacity.
The Foam Lake Hog Development Committee arranged for a public meeting on
Feb. 20th at the Community Hall. Please read and study the pamphlet
provided for us by the committee. In attendance will also be the
"Big Sky Management committee" team that will deal with our
concerns. Attend the meeting and present your concerns in a mannerly
fashion.
The development board is open for suggestions of projects for the
betterment of our town and community which was rated as "the best place
to live".
Let's support our committee on the "Foam Lake Hog Development"
to our fullest. Let us not let another opportunity slip by for the growth
of our town.
Please ignore the petitions floating around until you have attended the
Feb. 20th meeting. Many of your concerns will be answered and we will
learn more about the project.
- David and Mary Faye
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Garth
Anderson
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
I chose to attend the hog barn forum hosted at the Community Hall last
week. There was a gentleman who spoke and challenged everyone in
attendance to get the facts and make an informed decision regarding these
Intensive Livestock Operations. At the risk of making my
parent-teacher interviews an even more exciting day, I am going to give some
statistics and ask some questions that may provoke some discussion.
In 1981, Foam Lake Composite and Foam Lake Elementary schools housed six
hundred and twenty two students. Twenty years later, our population is
now three hundred and fifty three. The enrolment projection in just
five years is one hundred and thirty three at Foam Lake Elementary and one
hundred and twenty five at Foam Lake Composite - a decrease of forty
percent. Therefore, it is both practical and conceivable that one
school will be adequate to facilitate all the student needs in Foam Lake and
surrounding area.
Coupled with declining student population is the inherent loss of teacher
jobs and lost wages and spending in our community. Superannuation of
some teachers will expedite the transfer of current teachers, but instead of
attracting youthful teachers with young families, the positions will simply
be cropped. Verifiably, five teaching positions in the next six years
will be forfeited at Foam Lake Composite. Associated with declining
enrolments will be the amalgamation of bus routes and custodial
duties. Additionally, more jobs lost compounding the privation of
income and spending in Foam Lake and business area.
The other concern correlated with dropping enrolments and reduced staff
is the loss of educational and extra curricular programs at Foam Lake
Composite School. Satellite classes are an option for special academic
programs such as Calculus and French but are unquestionably inferior
alternatives. Practical and applied arts such as Industrial Arts and
Home Economics would certainly be scrutinized and administering the senior
sciences and maths would be altered from their current form. Extra
curricular programs such as nine-man football, band and drama that require
significant student numbers will be in jeopardy, imperiled due to a loss of
both students and staff. Never has Foam Lake Composite had such an
austere horizon regarding percentage of staff and student decline.
Does the Intensive Livestock Operation have the potential to stabilize
and stimulate student populations? I telephoned Leroy School and
informally discussed the hog barn situation with an employee at that
school. I asked her if the hog barns had increased school enrolment
and she said this fall a family with four children had moved into the
community, and, more importantly, she said it has allowed young families to
remain in the Leroy attendance area who would have had to relocate.
When I discussed this situation with an official from the Lanigan
School Division he was of the opinion that enrolments continue to
decline in spite of the economic development but not at the rate had there
not been the effort. I asked about the odour from the barns and she
that, on occasion, if the wind is right the hog barns could be detected.
This is a particularly sensitive subject to discuss, especially since
many of my days as a high school Principal are controversial enough.
However, the educational welfare, opportunity and future of prospective
students are a variable to be considered during this debate. I applaud
our two local governments for trying to stimulate business and growth; it is
their mandate.
Am I for hog barns? I don't know yet.
Am I an advocate for Foam Lake and it's future? YES.
- Garth Anderson, Principal
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Editor's
Response re: Jack Maluga
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
Dear Mr. Maluga,
In response to your letter to the editor in the January 13, 2003 issue of
the Review. I would first like to thank you for your concern toward
our economic and environmental well being.
I too share those concerns although perhaps I should be spending less
time at work and more time researching the issues such as mega hog barns and
other intensive livestock operations already operating in my area.
I do, however, base the decisions I make as a member of town council on
information gleaned from both sides of a proposed project such as the
proposed hog barns.
In answer to your question regarding the amount of money spent by the
Town of Foam Lake on the hog development committee project to date, that
answer is simple. Not one cent. I would also like to clear up
any misconception readers may have been left with from reading your letter
regarding a report in the December 2nd issue of the Review. These test
holes you referred to were soil test holes dug with a backhoe to determine
soil type on potential sites for the proposed project. This has
absolutely nothing to do with the water well test drilling recently
completed by the Town. The December 2nd report also goes on to say
that much work needs to be done and that plans are preliminary.
The public meeting held on January 9th did, I believe, as per the hope
expressed in your letter, feature several public speakers not from Sask
Pork, Sask Food and Agriculture and Big Sky Farms who all presented views
opposing the project as well as a presentation from Foam Lake Hog
Development Ltd.
A number of questions remain to be answered and I look forward to the
February 20th meeting ot have them answered.
I can, however, assure you that there is no great conspiracy, real or
implied, to withhold information from the public.
As afar as what impression 'the good people in Foam Lake are' get
regarding the project is really a decision we can make for ourselves.
- Bob Johnson
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Editorial....
Making a Considered Difference
Foam Lake Review
January 20, 2003
There are
two messages from the Jan. 8th hog development meeting that we should all
retain:
The first is: "I challenge you - no, I charge you - if you don't want
the hog operation to proceed, to come out the next time I call a meeting of
the Economic Development committee," from Alderman Harry Kerr.
Kerr explained that he invited a large group of people to an economic
development meeting and had two people turn out.
The other is from Dan Hoover, local farmer. "A community's
most important strength is its ability to work together. The most productive
approach is one of collaboration. We may never all agree on everything
but through a collaborative approach to problem solving, surely we can
extract the maximum benefit at the least cost to our community from this or
any other project. There is no Us and Them, only Us."
There is controversy around the proposed development of hog barns in
conjunction with Big Sky. The trick for our community is to discuss
the issue without tearing apart our community.
This doesn't mean we need to shut down discussion. We need, in
fact, to encourage more discussion, not less. Silence leads to rumour
and irrational reactions. Open discussion leads to considered opinions
based on fact and not on conjecture.
We need to argue without getting personal. We need to discuss the
current issue without muddying the waters with side issues. We can
think of this discussion in terms of family argument. "You
promised you'd finish the painting before spring." "Yeah,
but three months ago, you blew $50 on lottery tickets."
We need to listen more and talk less. We need to listen completely,
without looking for just enough information to start formulating our next
arguments. We need to listen to all opinions, and to respect those
opinions as coming from people who care as much as we do about the present
and future of our community.
"I think", "I heard", "They told me",
doesn't count. Facts do. But the facts need to come from a
reliable source. How do we determine the reliability of a source?
What do we need to know in order to form an educated opinion?
Here are some potential questions which can be answered with facts.
How much money came into other Saskatchewan towns during the construction
phase of a mega hog production? How much material was available
locally? How much was purchased locally?
How much grain has been purchased locally in other towns with a history
of big barns? What is the dollar value of that grain?
What are the salaries paid for each level of barn employee? In
other towns of Foam Lake's size, how many employees live in the local
town? Are these workers who have moved inot the town to take advantage
of the new jobs, or are these second jobs that go to families who are
already residents?
How many new businesses have opened up in towns after a hog barn has been
in the area for several years? (No one should expect immediate results
in the first year or so). How many new houses have been built?
How much has the population increased in the Town or in the R.M.? Has
school enrolment increased?
Are people shopping the local town? (This is a question we can ask of
ourselves all year long - do we support our own businesses and services and,
if we don't, can we expect new people in town to shop locally, or will they,
too, explain that they have to go to WalMart for the deals?)
If the local hog project does not go ahead, is there any reason why Foam
Lake could not pursue the idea of a small abattoir and packing plant?
Has anyone continued discussions with Kelly Ediger of Drake Meats bout a
branch plant here? Has anyone researched the availability of local
animals for such a plant? Would a local plant also process bison or
emu or ostrich? Could we find the guaranteed markets? Could
researching this project become part of Harry Kerr's challenge to the people
who attended the Jan. 8 meeting?
It's easier to speculate, guess, assume, talk over coffee than to make
the phone calls and do the research. Doing research in Saskatchewan
will probably mean digging for information that hasn't been tapped - doing
original research. However, comparing Saskatchewan to Saskatchewan is
probably the best way to understand most fully the positive and negative
implications of hog barn development in Saskatchewan.
And, all the while, the most important though has got to be: There is no
Us and Them. There is only Us.
- Joan Eyolfson Cadham
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Marlene
Wunder
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 27, 2003
I would like to begin by saying that comparing a community hall to
116,000 hogs is not realistic. For one... does the community hall
release Hydrogen Sulfide gas? Does it produce ammonia gas? by
the way ammonia gas when volatilized may be redeposited onto land and water
as far away as 300 miles in for the form of acid rain.
Can the community hall cause water contamination if it rains 8 - 15
inches in a 10 hour period? For example on July 3, 2000 at Vanguard,
Saskatchewan it rained 15 inches in 10 hours! Can you or I predict
what the weather will do?
We all know that the weather people on TV or radio have a hard time
predicting what tomorrow will bring, what makes us so special that we would
not encounter such a catastrophe!!!
One
last word on the community hall. Does it emit odors that interfere
with your quality of life? Maybe some of you have all the answers to
these questions!
Speaking of smell, are you sure you know what is exactly being
proposed? Let me give you some information on the magnitude of this
project. First of all this is 5000 sows year round, not 200 cute
little pigs that you can shovel the straw and manure out - there is no
straw. We are talking millions of gallons of liquid untreated raw
sewage to be dispersed on land all around the barn sites. How many
millions? A 2500 sow farrow-to-finish operations generates 26, 202,500
lagoon liquid per year. We would have to multiply this by 2 so
26,202,500 x 2 equals 52,405,000 gallons of liquid sewage per year.
Millions of gallons of raw untreated sewage to spread in our
neighborhood. Does this sound like scooping a little poop away by a
shovel? I don't think so!!!!
Over a three year period this project will need a land base of 240 or
more quarters to disperse all this untreated liquid manure.
Now taking all this into consideration if we translated this into cattle
number's we would need a total of 20,999 head in a confined area, not
roaming around on thousands of acres of land. Now I have done the
calculations for the whole project not just the three finishing barns with
the first batch of feeder pigs.
Do you in town think the smell would get a little over bearing if there
was that many animals located in a confined area in close proximity to you?
Is it fair to compare the treated lagoon north of Foam Lake to that of 52
million gallons of untreated manure? When this lagoon accommodates
treated sewage from 12200 people. The 52 million gallons of manure
that the pigs will produce, is equivalent to sewage from 100 thousand
people.
Here is a little information for you to absorb about water
consumption. A gestating sow uses 3.3 gallons of water per day.
So again we have 5000 sows x 3.3 equals 16,5000 gallons per day x 365 days
equals 6.022,500 gallons per year. This is not totally accurate
because while a sow lactates they use 4.4 gallons of water per day.
This information was obtained through the Prairie Swine Centre Inc. in
Saskatoon. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The calculation
above is just for the sows, there are 116,000 finished pigs consuming water daily.
I pose these questions to the citizens of Foam Lake and RM of Foam
Lake. What is the actual water usage of such a mega project? Do
we have sufficient water that will sustain this for a long period of
time? Will there be another drought next year or the year after?
Once again you nor I can predict the weather or the sustainability of this
project.
On to population of communities. The fact is communities throughout
Saskatchewan are declining, the bigger cities along with the communities
that have mega hog factories. According to Statistics Canada
communities such as Kelvington's population in 1996 was 1,046 - in 2001 it
was 1,007. Preeceville population in 1996 was 1,148 and in 2001 it was
1,074. Lintlaw population 208 in 1996, 187 in 2001, and Watrous 1,860
in 1996, and 1,808 in 2001. The reason I refer to 2001 is because the
last census was done that year. Two communities that did grow, I
phoned them to see what they were doing so right! One was Osler
population in 1996, 618 - population in 2001 - 823. Second was Warman
1996 population 2,839, population 2001 - 3,481. The reason for
expansion no new industries just the location from the city of
Saskatchewan. People wanting a quiet life style a friendly
atmosphere, clean water and fresh clean air.
I did some phoning to the Town offices at Invermay, Rama, and
Kelvington. All of which told me they had no school enrollment
increase, the population did not increase, there was no new business open up
with the exception of 1 electrician business in Kelvington. One RM
office told me there was increase maintenance cost tot he RM, dust control
was a big factor, gravel expense was up, road repairs would have to be
made. Did the building of the barns cause some influx of business,
some yes during the building stage, to sustain a business for the next 15 to
20 years, not likely. Will it make our school's grow? What is
happening to Theodore school this fall? Will the mill rates be
increased?
Who is Big Sky Inc.? Big Sky Inc. is classed as a family farm and
Mr. Florian Possberg CEO owns approximately 4.9% of the shares, his wife
owns just over 1% of shares. Saskatchewan government invested 15
million dollars through CIC, plus 8 million dollars through Saskatchewan
growth fund. Saskatchewan gov't is a major shareholder in Big Sky
Farms Inc. So why are they considered a family farm? Why do they
reclaim the PST on the building supplies which may total 1.5 million dollars
on this project. That should be monies spent on health care, or
education. Mitchell's Gourmet Foods of Saskatoon now controlled by
Schneiders Corporation. Schneiders Corporation is solely owned by
Smithfield Foods of Virginia USA. Mitchell's Foods invested 5 million
dollars into Big Sky Farms Inc. for the Kelvington barn. In return Big
Sky now sells 85% of its market hogs to Mitchells. Is there vertical
coordination on the way for Saskatchewan? Check of Smithfield Foods
track record for contamination, pollution and abandoning open lagoons.
Is there more information out there? Plenty, just phone, check out
the web sites, or talk to some other provinces and universities. You
can also try the Canadian Medical Health Association. A conference was
held in Saskatoon about Factory Farm development in Canada, November 8,
2002. There were guest speakers from the United States to share what
had happened to their country, only to see the problem move north. If
you would like information on this conference contact Canadian Centre for
Policy Alternatives - SK at 306-978-5308 - they helped organize the
conference.
Remember what they said about the Titanic, it was "unsinkable"
according to the paper plans, but... it too sank because of God's own
creation, an unpredictable iceberg!
I do not want to see our community disappear! Have we given up on
our community, certainly not! Is there room for improvement, of
course! Does it have to be mega big hog barns? No! Do you
know that Drake Meats employs 80 people and they don't have a meg hog barn
project of 5000 sow farrow to finish? They are expanding right in
Drake. Are there alternatives? Definately!
Now our little community is alive, let's bottle this energy in a positive
way and come up with a solution or alternative. Let's please keep the
unity in the community - without the unity you have no community.
- Marlene Wunder
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Tom
Adreas
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 27, 2003
When the issue of hog barns in the Foam Lake area came up, I would have
liked to have been one of those guys that sit on the fence and not get
involved in the debate. An issue like this there really isn't a fence
- sooner or later you will have to make a decision, and I hope you do.
I will start by stating I am against the barns, and really if you don't want
them near, you are also against them.
Water quality is the most important concern, and rightly so. What
are we without good clean and safe water supply. With all the
information out there I cannot be convinced that our wells will not be contaminated.
Why won't Big Sky build north of the town, closer to the Heritage marsh or
Fishing Lake? Also explain why in the brochure handed out by the Hog
Development board will Big Sky protect the people that allow them to spread
manure on their land with lawyers from lawsuits?
People try to pretend that air quality doesn't matter. Well to my
family and me it does matter!!! We pasture cows beside the finishing
barns north of Invermay and to put it politely, they reek!! Sometimes
5 miles away and certainly almost always within 2 miles. All day
everyday the exhaust fans are pumping out that foul odor. It isn't
just when they are emptying the lagoons like some people believe.
Liability is something all ratepayers should be considering. Let's
assume the Saskatch3ewan government messes this up just like they did Spudco.
Who has to pay to clean up this mess? What are the costs of cleaning
up these giant earthen lagoons? Is it the RM of Foam Lake? Or
does it really matter because even if it is Big Sky the Saskatchewan
government owns them and we all pay provincial taxes.
Some people believe hog barns in the area may mean lots of new families
moving in to Foam Lake and they will have kids and the school and the town
will flourish. So I did some research and found out that enrollment in
two area schools with these hog barns actually had their enrollment drop.
Theodore School is about to possibly close and they have a hog barn that
moved into their community and they didn't gain one student, in fact the
enrollment dropped from 51 to 45 this year. Invermay School even with
5 mega barns actually had their enrollment drop this year from 15 to
163. Similar result sin Lintlaw and Kelvington. I might also add
that Sheho didn't have one new family move in because of the hog barn ns in
either Theodore or Rama (two hog projects in close proximity).
Will it save the community? With Sheho and their school closure,
the community fought to save the school, but the difference is we fought
together. How can a mega barn project bring a community
together? It can't if a large number of people oppose it. The
community appears to be splitting and at what costs is a project that splits
town against rural, friend against friend, families and neighbours against
each other?
In conclusion we ask people to get educated about these hog factories, to
go for drives and smell what we are talking about, to do research in towns
that have them and see that very few new families move in. No one will
argue the fact that these towns are very busy during the construction phase,
but after that everything goes back to the way it was before the
construction, perhaps even quieter if the community was divided over the
issue.
- Tom Andreas, Resident in the RM of Foam Lake
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Walter
Fennuk
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
January 27, 2003
I am writing this at 4 am in the morning on one of the many nights I have
not been able to sleep. I have never previously written a letter to
the editor, but then I have never felt so threatened as I do by the proposal
for the mega hog barns.
Some members of the Concerned Citizens group took a petition against mega
hog barn operations, signed by 311 ratepayers of the RM of Foam Lake #276 to
the last council meeting. The council's answer to this petition was to
table it until their next council meeting on March 5, 2003. I wonder
how many more sleepless nights I and countless others must endure before we
can stop this project. Our reeve, in an open meeting on January 9,
said the final decision was the people's. If over 300 signatures in 3
days isn't enough are we going to have to endure the expense of a plebiscite
or are we even being offered this? (Remember, only 5000 signatures in
the WHOLE province of Manitoba was enough to put a moratorium on mega hog
barn expansions in that province.)
There are hundreds of pages of information available about the harmful
effects of these factories on both the environment and the health of people
working in or living near mega hog barns, but I also challenge the
ratepayers of this RM to go and talk to people who have these factories in
their locale.
We all have friends and relatives living near other barns. Speak to
these people and ask them about their air and water quality, about dust,
about road deterioration. Ask them if any new families have moved in,
ask them if their school enrolments have increased. Ask them if they
see any new businesses. Ask their councillors if they have not had to
spend much more on road maintenance and rebuilding than they ever made from
taxing these factories. Members of the concerned citizens group have
asked these questions and we have the answers.
In these day s of environmental awareness and the Kyoto Accord to reduce
greenhouse emissions can we not look for a more environmentally friendly way
to sustain rural Saskatchewan than to destroy two of the most unique things
we have to offer, namely clean air and clean water.
Please don't stop telling the councillors that YOU elected what your
feelings are.
- Walter Fennuk
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Jerrold Malinowski
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
February 3, 2003
text
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Henry & Lucy Kolodziejski
Letters to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
February 3, 2003
text
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CONCERNED CITIZEN'S COALITION
Concerned Citizen's Coalition is a voluntary organization
concerned about the environment, our quality of life and our
community.
TOP 10 REASONS TO BE CONCERNED
Q: WHO OWNS BIG SKY FARMS INC.?
A: The Fraser Institute lists Big Sky as a Crown Corporation.
Q: WHO IS LIABLE FOR ANY ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE?
A: Currently RMs are responsible for cleaning up abandoned
underground fuel storage tanks. Will the RM be responsible for
cleaning up these giant earthen lagoons in the future as well?
Check out your liability insurance and see if you are covered. |
|
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RM Council
Plans Hog Barn Vote
Western Producer
February 27, 2003
By: Karen Morrison
Councillors in the Saskatchewan rural municipality of Foam Lake will
vote March 5 on whether to go ahead with an intensive pig operation amid
mounting opposition.
Petitions with 600 signatures opposing the construction of Big Sky
barns at six sites near Foam Lake will be presented at the council's next
meeting.
Reeve Gerald Holowaty is unsure how the vote will go but said the
petitions represent two-thirds of local ratepayers.
"I believe we should be listening to our ratepayers," he
said.
Holowaty said the RM began exploring hog barn development last year as
a way to create economic development for the region.
Ernie Patrick of Big Sky Pork in Humboldt said his company only goes
where it is invited.
"We don't throw a dart at a map. Everybody comes to
us," he said, noting the community suggested the proposed barn sites.
Marilyn Wunder of the Concerned Citizens Coalition said she only
learned of the proposed developments in December.
Her group immediately began holding meetings, circulating petitions and
researching other communities' experiences with large hog barns.
"It's not just our community going through this, this is a major
issue," Wunder said.
At meetings held Feb. 19 and 20 in the community, several hundred local
residents listened to speakers from Big Sky and the provincial government
and anti-ILO groups like HogWatch Manitoba.
Wunder said barn development might increase business in town during the
construction phase, but doubted there would be long-term benefits.
The barns add costs to RMs in ongoing road maintenance, employ few
local workers and use open pit waste lagoons, she said.
"To have economic gain at the expense of others is not economic
gain at all," she said.
Patrick, a manure specialist with Big Sky, told one meeting that odour
can be masked by blowing 150 bales of straw over the lagoons and by
feeding pigs certain enzymes. Injecting the manure into nearby
farmland produces fewer odours than surface applications, he noted.
Patrick said nutrient levels are monitored and soils tested to ensure
balanced levels.
Manure from the proposed sites could be spread over 5,000 acres within
six kilometers, he said.
"We have more demand than we can supply."
Patrick also said Big Sky uses engineers to design manure systems,
which must be approved by regulatory agencies before the project starts.
Wunder said the hog barn project has divided the community. She
hopes the proposal will be defeated and local residents will look to
opportunities in tourism like the creation of a cultural centre and
recording studio.
"We have to capture that positive energy to benefit the whole
community, not just a few," she said.
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Rural Communities Need a Long
Term Plan
Wadena News
March 5, 2003
“There is no pixie dust.
There are no magic answers. You
can’t turn a community around on a dime.
Any long-term plan requires a lot of effort from all of you.
The subject of intensive hog operations tends to split the community
right down the centre. You are
too big for this to happen. Continue
to speak to people on both sides of the issue, at church, in the market
place, said Dr. William Weida, speaking in Foam Lake on Feb. 19.
Weida was invited to Foam Lake
by the Concerned Citizens Coalition following his presentation at Quill Lake
on Tuesday. A retired professor
of Economics and Business with a doctorate in econometrics and a Bachelor of
Science in engineering, his specialty is regional economics.
He provides advice to communities and regions on the impact of
various forms of economic development.
The cost of his presentations is covered by the GRACE Family Factory
Project, a non-profit organization with advisors in the USA and Canada.
“I am well aware of the
pressures and problems of living in rural communities where your best export
is your youth. I am aware of
the downward spiral that no one wants,” he said.
His advice to the people of Foam Lake was to do a study of local
economic assets and liabilities before talking about specific economic
activities.
Saskatchewan is in an unusual
position, he said. When the
CROW was abolished, the government looked for a place to use cheap grain and
settled on the hog industry. This plan has been building since 1995.
“You can’t talk about
economic development until you talk about assets.
You have a bundle here. This
is an area that has a lot of options. There’s
the marsh. There are the
hunters. There is the lake.
Do you know how much money people using it are putting into the
economy? What about retired
people? Do you know what effect
on those two user groups with ILOs (intensive livestock operations)?
Talk about the benefits. But
you must look at the costs. You
have to sit down as a community and discuss your inventory of assets.
You have to get together as a group, with everybody, to discuss long
run land use for this community. You
have to consider what makes an economy run.
You have to consider the amount of money spent locally.”
Weida said he had breakfast at a
local café. So did a local
person. His spending was more
important, he said, because he was bringing in new money.
A community needs a constant infusion of money from outside.
Examples of activities that
generate outside money, he said, are agricultural activities, cattle feed
lots, postal service with salaries coming from outside, and pensioners whose
pension cheques comes from outside of the community. “You
don’t get it from someone who works inside town,” he said.
“For example, with construction, a person in town pays someone in
town. All they do is recycle
money. You have to look for
jobs that bring in money from outside.”
“You have to create a
situation where money is spent locally. Economists agree that you have to
have a full service economy to attract activity.
This means assessing the community.
Can this community provide all the services required for an ILO or
for any other operation that you might start here?” he asked.
One of his concerns with the
potential hog operation is that, in Saskatchewan, the government has chosen
to get involved in the pork industry. Crown
Investments has a tremendous involvement, he said.
Saskatchewan and Foam Lake have two different points of view.
If money is spent in Regina, that’s okay for Saskatchewan.
The government of Saskatchewan has no incentives to see that the
money is spent in Foam Lake. The
more vertical the integration, he said, the more likelihood of bringing in
supplies.
Competition for pork is not
beef, he said. Competition for
beef is not pork. In both
cases, it is chicken. Chicken
converts feed to flesh five to seven times more efficiently.
The costs are much lower. The
protein producers of four-legged animals are trying to lower costs to
compete with chicken.
“There are not many advantages
to having people like me, but there is one,” he said.
“We see trends. The
trend is for REDAs to facilitate ILOs coming into areas.
I don’t know if it is a plan or desperation.
REDAs are supposed to advance the economy of the region in ways that
agree with the plans of the citizens. Can
you do it without land use plans? Probably
not. That’s another reason to
get together as a community.”
If you are working with REDA, he
said, insist that nothing happen until you have inventoried strengths and
weaknesses and have decided which local assets you agree to preserve and
which ones can be sacrificed. Don’t
allow REDA to pay to bring a company in. Have
claw-back agreements for any incentives.
Have long term plans in place and regulations to enforce them.
And, he said, “Devote most of your efforts to growing the companies
inside your community rather than recruiting new ones.”
According to Weida, the two most
critical problems with ILOs are odour and ammonia.
Statistically, he said, it takes 20 years for polluted water to move.
Odour is immediate, shifts quickly, and impacts people closest to the
site. It sets up automatic
conflict in the community.
You must always protect your
community, he said. He offered
six ways to ensure protection. Write
up requirements including lined and covered lagoons.
Insist waste be immediately incorporated into land.
It is difficult to incorporate waste when doing conservation tilling.
Waste has pathogens. You
should not have uncapped or unsealed wells.
Each old well with the clay not replaced is a pathway into the
ground. Insist on bonding and
remediation for clean up. Insist
contractually on reimbursement for road damage.
Insist any claim of benefits be in writing, be guaranteed, and be
signed by the president of the company.
Most importantly, he said,
don’t get mad at each other. Keep
talking. Get an inventory of
resources. This is a stunningly
beautiful area, he said. Don’t
take it for granted. Develop a
long-term land use plan. Avoid
short-term fixes. What can I do
right now to fix the community? Nothing.
Consider among yourselves what the economic status of the community
is, then consider what you can afford to do.
“It does not make an economic
difference to this area whether the hog operation comes in this year or next
year. Come to the meeting
tomorrow night. Get informed.
Read. Use your computer.
Hear the other side of the issue.
Take a trip to a hog production area.
Look at the barns. Become
informed and make an informed decision.
Do not get into a panic. This
community was okay yesterday, is okay today, and will be okay tomorrow.
Don’t do anything in a rush,” he said.
“Always keep in the front of your mind what you have here.”
In economics, he said, we talk
about the economics of making bargains.
When one party in a bargain doesn’t know very much, the party who
knows the most will shift costs to the party who knows the least.
You stop that from happening through regulations to prevent the costs
from being shifted. This
requires a lot of inspector monitoring and regulation.
The problem is that inspection is expensive.
“Every development project
should be held up against your long-term plan.
The project should not affect your long-term plan or your residents.
Why should you care? So
you have a place for your kids to live, unless your long-term plan is to
move them to Saskatoon.
In response to a question on how
to keep young people home right now, Weida said that the two growth areas
are not in agriculture. They
are in the service economy and in technology.
Prepare your community and your children to work in those areas, he
said.
With technology, jobs can be
done anywhere, he said. People
working in global mapping moved in because they liked the area.
They are in northern Idaho, searching for debris from the space
shuttle.
Everyone has to find his own
way, he said. Your location is
marvellous. There’s a road
right by. There’s the
railroad. You are located close
to a larger town. It’s a
wonderful place. American
statistics show that rural population has stabilized.
People are moving back to rural areas not for agriculture but for
other jobs. They have choices.
Your region has to be attractive.
Yours is attractive.
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Hog Barns
Are Trouble
Wadena News
March 5, 2003
Dear Editor:
I do not live in the town of Foam Lake or the Rural
Municipality of Foam Lake, but I have family who live in both.
I am shocked and disappointed at the lack of foresight being
displayed by area residents who are lending support to the proposed
construction of pig barns in the RM. If
any one is thinking that it is alright to contaminate the farm homes, land
and water, of area farmers, because it won’t negatively affect them
personally, they are wrong on all counts.
Firstly, it is immoral to condemn farmers who would be
so affected by this proposal, to ruin.
Secondly, the reeking stench at intensive hog farms, will indeed be
pervasive. Please don’t take
my word for it, ask the area residents around Rama and Theodore.
Land in the area, not just the immediate vicinity will be devalued,
and who will be responsible to compensate the farmer for the difference in
price for what his land was worth before pig barns devalued his property,
and what he could get for it after this devaluation happens?
Do you think that Big Sky will cover this?
More likely it will be lawsuits that force those who supported the
construction to compensate the landowner for the loss.
Water tables, once poisoned by effluence, will never recover.
There again, it will firstly be the farms and farm homes immediately
adjacent who will lose their water, but it will get to the town as well.
How much do you suppose it will cost to try and treat the problem?
How long do you suppose a town will last with a poisoned water
supply?
For anyone who believes there will be a personal
economic spin-off, once more I fear you display naiveté as to the agendas
of multi-national companies. They
are not interested in buying your grain, when under free trade, they can
import corn from the USA cheaper than what your product is worth.
If you really are interested in your town prospering, you will avoid
measures that will drive away the duck hunters and tourists that Foam Lake
now enjoys. People who visit
your town and area and spend their dollars in your local establishments will
cease to come if the air is thick with stink and the water is polluted.
Before any of you commits to supporting the
construction of pig barns, I urge you to look at the reality of leaving the
future with the consequences of poor decisions now.
It will take only a very short time to poison the air, the land and
the water. The results will be
irreparable in not only your lifetime, but your children’s as well.
Yours truly,
Jessie Steinhauer,
Saskatoon, SK
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Foam
Lake Dumps Hog Barn Idea
CBC News
March 7, 2003
One of the biggest hog producers in the province was planning to build
six intensive pig barns in near Foam Lake, but the plan was shot down by
local residents.
Big Sky Farms says a group of farmers wanted to build a $30 million
intensive hog operation near Foam Lake. but controversy began after other
area residents got wind of the idea.
Marilyn Wunder, who farms near the town, says manure from the barns could
lower property values. Others say they can't open their windows and enjoy
their yards in the summertime and fear they will become prisoners in their
own home.
She says many of her neighbours got worried after they spoke to people in
towns where hog barns are already operating nearby.
"Their schools are still closing. Their communities have not grown
in population. Their businesses are not open," she says, "and to
have economic growth or gain at the expense of others is not economic
development."
Wunder says people are also worried about water contamination from the
effluent produced by such a facility.
After a series of public meetings, more than 600 people signed a petition
to reject Big Sky's offer and the rural municipality was forced decided to
dump the idea.
Big Sky president Florian Possberg says that this kind of opposition
wasn't totally unexpected.
"Initially it looked like most of the RM council was very much in
favour of the project," he says, "(but) there was significant
negative backlash from residents."
Possberg says the idea got a lot of opposition after environmental
activists from Manitoba and North Carolina paid a visit to Foam Lake. He
says that's when residents started asking his company about other places,
where hog manure had spilled into waterways.
"You know people point to environmental disasters like that and say
what's our protection here? Well quite frankly, we're not North Carolina,
and we haven't had a hurricane with forty inches of rain for quite some
time," Possberg argues.
Possberg doesn't think the project's backers will drop their plans that
easily. In the meantime, he says Big Sky still plans to put hog barns in
five other communities.
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RM Rejects Hog Barns
Western Producer
March 13, 2003
By: Karen Morrison
Councillors in the Saskatchewan rural municipality of Foam Lake voted
March 5 against plans to build large pig barns.
The council had formed a hog development board last year to explore
bringing Big Sky Farms to six sites in the community.
Opposition mounted against the development, resulting in petitions with
600 signatures presented to council this month.
Marilyn Wunder of the Concerned Citizens Coalition, which circulated
the petition and held information meetings, was relieved by the council's
decision.
"I'm happy the council is going along with the majority of
people," she said. "I'm hoping this is the end of
it."
There will likely be one more meeting on the subject.
The hog development board has tentatively planned a public meeting.
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Letter to the Editor
Foam Lake Review
March 31, 2003
(The
following letter was handed in for the March 17 paper but the Editor would
not print it. So, in order to get it printed, had to put it in as a paid
advertisement which cost $102.72. – Orest Monych)
First
I would like to thank Mr. Alex Halyk for his very informative article.
His father was a very wise man and I remember him giving my father
some pertinent advice back in the forties.
Mr. Halyk Sr. helped many people get established in the community.
Thanks to people like him this community was founded to be one of the
best anywhere, and look at what has happened in just 2 short months.
What would the leaders of past say if they could see what’s
happening here now?
In
response to Kristen Hunter’s article, we are not just “so called”
concerned citizens actually we are “very concerned citizens” who are
working very hard, in spite of all odds to protect our community from the
negative effects of Mega Hog Barns. You
write that water concerns is one of your favorite ones.
Thank You! It also
happens to be one of ours, and so is manure seepage and air quality.
You stated that human feces was the worst water contaminant, do we
have to add hog manure to that. Hog
manure also contains growth hormones, antibiotic and other medication
that’s supplied with the feed. Also
one swine produces 4 times more manure than a human.
You also wrote that you laugh at spray chemicals and how they seep
into the soil, sure they do and I for one don’t find that funny at all.
This is a very serious concern, because if chemicals seep into the
ground and contaminate the water then so will the hog manure.
I’m sorry but I can’t laugh at that.
Did we write about the pros and cons?
Certainly not but then again neither did Big Sky or yourself Kristen
Hunter. Some day when you are
going to work stop at the Doroshenko’s or the Skoretz’s or
Hrynchychen’s and maybe the Delowski families and tell them how lucky they
are to be living in close proximity to your barns, last time I heard they
weren’t very pleased.
I
have never heard the phrase grunt labour before, did you invent it?
You said it not us. Scabs are generally workers who cross picket
lines during unionized labour disputes, again you said it not us.
You have the right to gainful employment and we have the right to
oppose Mega Hog Barns, however when we read your letter we have to remember
that Big Sky pays you.
Now
to address some issues from Charlene Kluz McCracken’s comments.
I agree with her that we do have a beautiful countryside, and are you
trying to tell us that putting rows of Mega Hog barns would make it even
more beautiful? Do you suppose
we might miss the smell of Mega Hog Barns on some very pleasant summer
evening? I’d rather see the
country empty and peaceful, and beautiful, where neighbors help one another
and where people can plan their future and eventually their retirement.
If Big Sky bought 80% of their supplies in Ogema then your town was
very lucky because when they built in other towns they brought most of their
supplies from other areas. You
lash out at one of our group and questioned her knowledge of the facts.
Believe me, Marlene is very knowledgeable as are most of our group;
if you had addressed us as a group then I could have accepted your letter
for what it was. But to pick on
one person was in poor judgement on your part.
She was speaking on behalf of all of us.
Obviously
you really don’t have too many facts of your own because it is “yours
truly” that organized the first meeting so I guess I lit the fire myself
and not Marlene. I thought we
had that right, but I guess you don’t seem to agree.
There are some countries where people don’t have such choices.
Thankfully we still do. We
have 630 people plus 4 RM officials that have said no Mega Hog Barns, but I
guess you know better than all of us. If
you like these barns so much then you can have them all.
We’re not greedy! Please take everyone.
But before you wish these Mega Hog Barns on Bankend (your home town)
you should first consult with all the local residents and get their
approval. When you wrote your
article did you consider that it might have some negative effect on some
Businesses here?
In
closing I’d like to mention that we have many very knowledgeable people
working very hard for what we believe in.
Marlene is our spokesperson (not by choice) and she did an excellent
job on our behalf. We are very
grateful for her participation and I for one am proud to work with her and
all the rest of our group. We
have documented volumes of facts. We
really do know what the issues are. On
March 5 the RM council acted with integrity and character.
We thank them for that.
Sincerely,
Orest Monych,
Foam Lake, SK
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Ask First
Western Producer
April 10, 2003
To the Editor:
In an interview in the Feb. 27 Western Producer, (Foam Lake) RM council
plans hog barn vote, Ernie Patrick, field services manager of Big Sky Farms,
claims the company only goes where it is invited.
He says the community suggested the proposed barn sites.
Big Sky chief executive officer Florian Possberg also frequently
likes to point out they only locate where they’re wanted.
In fact, the five proposed barn sites for the 5,000 sow operation were
not suggested by the community at all, but by a small group promoting the
project, the Foam Lake Hog Development committee who worked closely with Big
Sky Farms.
The location of the barns and the development itself, came as a surprise
to many farmers living in the area. It
lead to a concerned ratepayers’ group calling a hurried public meeting
Jan. 9, which was attended by 350 people.
Despite full-page ads in the local newspaper, taken out by the hog
development committee urging people to take their names off a petition, only
a handful did.
By the date of their regular meeting on March 5, RM of Foam Lake
councillors had a petition signed by 628 (or two thirds) of their ratepayers
opposing the mega hog project.
“We’ve been working at it for a whole year.
In less than 60 days they killed it,” hog development chair Terry
Markusson lamented in the press.
Mr. Markusson should have been aware the project was not going to be
popular. As he was told by a
visibly upset farmer at Big Sky’s promotional meeting Feb. 20 in Foam
Lake: “you broke the first
rule of economic development. You
didn’t let people know what was going on.”
Unfortunately, this is all too typical of how mega hog developments have
unfolded in all three prairie provinces.
In what was probably intended to be a shining testimonial for hog
development, Porcupine Plain’s town administrator, Barry Warsylewicz said
in a newspaper promotion describing a Big Sky project in his community:
“That is not to say there were not a few vocal residents that
objected.
“But all t’s were crossed and all i’s dotted, and those in
opposition were simply that – in opposition to a project that is well
under way.”
Well, it certainly sounds like the democratic process is alive and well
in Porcupine Plain.
During hearings in Hardisty, Alta., Taiwan Sugar Corp. official Danny
Huang was apparently shocked at the negative reception his company got from
area residents, who opposed a $41 million hog barn complex.
Huang said the Alberta government had invited his company to invest in
the province. And municipal
officials had invited the company to locate in the County of Flagstaff,
around Hardisty, after they had received the cold shoulder in another
southern Alberta county.
Did anyone think to ask the local residents what they thought first?
Obviously not…
Haste. Secrecy.
Lack of consultation. You
name it. It’s no wonder that
so many rural people have lost faith in the intensive livestock policies of
their respective governments.
Jack Maluga,
Wynyard, Sask.
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Good afternoon my name is Marlene Wunder, I am from Foam Lake. This
past winter we had a controversial situation in our community which has now
left neighbour against neighbour, family member against family member, and
friend against friend, and so on.
In December of 2002 we had learned of a major pig operation slated for
our neighbourhood, unannounced to anyone other than a few privileged
individuals, either connected to the Foam Lake Hog Development committee, or
so called important people. They had preliminary studies done on sites
in September of 2002 and neglected to inform the neighbours of these
proposed sites. The sites became public knowledge in December and that
is when trouble began.
What was said is that they carefully select their sites as to not affect
to many people. I would like to inform you here today that the three
finisher barns holding a total of 40,800 pigs at a time were to be located
next to 25 families in a 3 mile radius. The two other barns had 17
families in a three mile radius. I do not think that this is a
sparsely populated area. What is was is land which was going to be
sold by the members of the hog development board, or the family members of
the board members. These land locations were not occupied by the
owners, which tends to be the situation in most cases. The members of
the board arrange for their land or family members to sell land to Big Sky,
but will live no where near these barns. How could this possibly be
economic growth for a community when so few benefit at the expense of
others?
It is preached upon us that this will increase all kinds of things, keep
our schools open, keep the hospitals, and keep the population of rural
Saskatchewan growing. This is simply not the case.
As to our public meeting held in February one of the supporters of Big
Sky from Rama stood up and spoke of the great spin-offs happening in the
community. These claims are false. Some individuals have gone
there since that and have taken pictures of the empty houses (these were
supposed to be all full according to the speaker). The cafe is closed,
and the store is for sale. Why would the government encourage -- in
fact sit at the same table as these people knowing full well what lies are
being told to the people in order for it to sound like such a great
thing. This is shameful.
It is also shameful of how communities are divided because of the process
of implementing these barns in the community's. I have no idea of what
is promised to the proponents of the barns, but it must be good to make them
turn against all that is right.
The people against these barns were the majority, and that was proven by
way of petition. The councillors had no choice but to vote it
down. Now the hog development members are telling us that they will
shove these pigs down our throat whether we want them or not. There
has been a price put on the position for reeve, or should I say an offer for
someone to run for reeve. This is all so ridiculous and this
government is apart of this whether you admit to it or not. This is
the type of behaviour you are creating with these pig barns.
Mr. Serby, have you ever lived by 40,800 pigs? Would you like your
children breathing in those fumes every day of their lives? This is
the question you should be asking yourself. If you don't want it, what
makes you think we want our children subject to such air quality? Why
should we risk having our water supply contaminated?
We were told of the engineering that was top class doing these
projects. Why then is it the Rama barn ceiling came down? This
factory is 2 or 3 years old. This was supposed to be designed by
engineers who knew what they were doing. The lagoons are supposed to
be designed by engineers. If this happens to barns, do you think there
is a possibility that the walls of the lagoons may deteriorate, cave in, or
erode?
I believe that these are not sustainable projects, that you the
government can not guarantee anyone that our water will not be contaminated,
and that our lives will not be negatively affected by the air quality we
would have to breath.
Taxes are another issue that must be looked into by the government.
I have spoken to RM councillors who have mega pig barns and are faced with
increasing cost for road repair, gravel and increased maintenance. The
$5.00 per sow just does not cover the cost. Instead of a $5.00 per
sown maintenance agreement let it be $1.00 for every pig that goes to market
from the factory. This I feel would be a more acceptable level of
maintenance cost.
This year our roads have been affected by the weather, and on some roads
the bottoms of our vehicles are dragging. There would be no road ban
for a semi with pigs going out, or grain coming in -- the road damage from
this type of industry would surpass a $25,000 price tag.
Why is the PST given back on the building supplies of these pig
factories? This moneu, totalling some $1.5 million on a 5,000 sow
farrow to finish unit, would be more beneficial put back into the health
care, or roads, or into the education fund.
Why is this type of industry considered a family farm? It is time
to define "family farm." A family farm that spreads all over
the province is no family farm. The question of regulation must be
addressed. Mr. Possberg sits on every committee and has input on how
he is regulated. He actually is making decisions on how he should be
regulated. This is no guarantee to the public, that the public
interests and concerns will be addressed. This government must
implement a third unbiased party to be the regulators, not the government
because they are the owners and not Mr. Possberg because he is CEO, nor any
of the proponents such as Mr. Kevin Hursh.
This is definitely a controversial topic, and it needs some major
changes. There is plenty of new technology that could and should be
implemented. These options should be part of the package.
Regulations must become stricter. This government claims to have
strict guidelines, but those are in question. All one must do is look
into the regulations in other countries to be a guide. For example, in
the Netherlands they cannot spread manure on holidays, Sundays, and must be
worked in within 12 hours. They also pay a tax on exceeding the amount
of manure that is allowable.
Dr. Eva Pipp of the University of Manitoba has many good changes that
could be implemented and I want to strongly urge this government to look
into implementing some of these changes.
We are ordinary people, with ordinary lives, we are not cave people, but
people with families, and people that should be listened to. We want
to be part of Saskatchewan, we are our children to be here too, but when YOU
the government, and hog development boards and REDA insist on pushing PIG
barns into areas where it is totally unacceptable, then maybe you don't
really want any type of farmers except for the corporate ones to be left on
the land.
That is not economic growth, but a destruction of a way of life, and a
building of hatred.
Our hope here today is that you will listen and take it to heart.
That there are concerns out there, across a wide area. We are not just
a handful, and some action must be taken on the government's part.
There will be many more fights and families, friends and neighbours will
continue to be ripped apart if something does not change.
This is no way to build a province.
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Rural Group Discusses Mega Hog
Issue With Serby, Belanger
By Jack Maluga
June 6, 2003
Numerous
concerns and recommendations relating to mega hog operations were presented
during a recent meeting between a group of rural residents and two
provincial cabinet ministers in Regina.
A
delegation of 16 rural residents from nine east-central and north-eastern
rural municipalities met with Agriculture Minister,
Clay Serby and Environment Minister, Buckley Belanger on May 14th at
the Legislature. The rural delegation included farmers from the Quill
Lake-Watson, Wynyard, Foam Lake-Sheho, Rama, Churchbridge, Archerwill-Rose
Valley, Porcupine Plain and Whitewood regions. Most of the areas have been
chosen as locations for mega hog expansion, or have existing operations.
Typical
industrial hog operations under construction in Saskatchewan are 5,000 sow
production units. They consist of five huge barns, holding approximately
65,000 hogs, as well as a smaller boar barn. According to the developers,
they use 50 million gallons of water and generate 40 million gallons of
liquid manure annually.
Issues
raised at the meeting ranged from environmental concerns; to divisive
effects on communities; to the implications factory farms will have on
family farms. Mr. Serby was
told that small-scale hog production is as economically viable as mega
farms, but due to the government's promotion of large-scale operations,
small-scale operators are disappearing.
The
ministers were informed a mega hog operation is being developed in an area
internationally recognized for its diverse bird-habitat – the Quill Lakes.
Each year the Quill Lakes are used by nearly one million birds - they
are also a seasonal home to more than 150,000 shorebirds including the
endangered Piping Plover. The towns of Wynyard, Wadena and Foam Lake have
been actively promoting birding projects in the area in an attempt to
attract tourists.
Mr.
Serby was reminded that tourism should also play an important part in his
rural revitalization plans. It was pointed out to Mr. Belanger that concerns
over chemical changes to Big Quill Lake resulted in a full-scale
environmental impact assessment being done when a potassium sulphate plant
was built on the south shore of the lake in the 1980's – however, mega hog
operations in Saskatchewan have not yet had to undergo such an assessment.
Environmental
concerns were also an important issue in the Whitewood area where a mega hog
operation near the Scissors Creek received provincial approval this spring.
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food have promised a two-foot dyke will be
built around the barn sites, but the potential for trouble if a manure spill
occurs and it reaches the Qu'Appelle River was raised. Mr. Serby was asked
to put a hold on construction until the site was re-assessed. The cabinet
ministers were told that approximately 15 families live in the proximity of
the proposed hog barns - some of which have plaques recognizing the fact the
land has been in their families for 100 years.
The
delegation from the Churchbridge-Langenburg area told Mr. Serby the RM of
Churchbridge had paid thousands of dollars for testing for suitable sites
for barns without the consent of their ratepayers and the RM would only be
repaid if the hog project went ahead.
Concern
was also expressed that a pilot project currently underway by the provincial
government and SARM could take approval of intensive livestock operations
out of the hands of municipalities. Mr. Serby and Belanger were told that a
mega hog project was not compatible with plans for attracting tourism to a
proposed mineral spa in the Langenburg area.
Representatives
from the Foam Lake-Sheho area outlined the series of events that took place
in the RM of Foam Lake last winter, where a mega hog project was turned
down. They expressed concerns that mega hog industry officials sit on
committees that make decisions on how their industry is regulated. There are
no guarantees that the public's interests and concerns are addressed, the
Foam Lake group said. Industrial
farming is not economic growth, but destruction of a way of life, the
delegation stated.
Mr.
Belanger was asked why piezometer readings around earthen hog lagoons in
Rama (which measure possible leakage) are not available to the public, or
even to environment department officials. "The government sets them up
(mega hog operations) and then they regulate themselves," one farmer
commented.
The
Archerwill-Rose Valley delegation discussed a proposed 5,000-sow hog
operation in the RMs of Barrier Valley and Ponass Lake. They were concerned
that a questionnaire circulated at an informational meeting held April 9th
in Archerwill and Rose Valley was taken as an indication the public welcomed
the project. However, residents of the northern half of the RM of Barrier
Valley, closest to Tisdale, received no notice of the meetings at all. Local
residents have since formed a "Stop The Hogs Coalition" and
petitions are being circulated against the project in both RMs. A plebiscite
in the RM of Ponass Lake has been sent out to ratepayers and must be
returned by June 30th.
Mr.
Serby was asked to leave the business of raising livestock to the farmers of
Saskatchewan. "Farmers are a versatile bunch, but family farms can't
compete with corporate farms - especially those funded by government money.
With pork prices as low as they are, these corporations are losing money,
and yet they plan to expand," a Rose Valley area resident said.
With the federal government suggesting farmers will have to prepare
individual environmental farm plans by the year 2008, Mr. Serby was asked
why his government was encouraging the unprecedented growth of the mega hog
industry - an industry whose environmental practices will soon be outdated,
if not outlawed.
That
issue was also raised by the delegation from Watson-Quill Lake, which asked
Mr. Serby to put a hold on the hog development in their RM until new
technology such as bio-digesters are available. The digesters, which are
used in Europe and on at least one Alberta Hutterite colony, remove methane
gas from manure and convert it to electricity. Water can be re-used, and
only a small amount of concentrated manure remains. However, their arguments
failed to sway Mr. Serby, who said Saskatchewan currently raises fewer
cattle than Alberta and fewer hogs than Manitoba.
At one point during the meeting he interjected,
"You're all telling me the same thing, and I've heard these
arguments before."
Mr.
Belanger stated his department is not being pressured by Sask Agriculture to
approve sites that shouldn't be developed. He said they act independently of
Mr. Serby's department.
Jack
Maluga
Wynyard
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