Published in the
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2000
By Helen Fallding
Alberta Manure (Water) Pollution Hoists Red Flag
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -- Water quality problems in Alberta's "feedlot
alley" could serve as a warning to Manitoba as the province
jumps whole hog into intensive livestock production. Halfway through
a five-year study on the Oldman River basin, participants say Manitoba
might still have a chance to avoid the cleanup problems southern
Alberta faces after more than a decade of feedlot expansion. Feedlots
in a 500-square-kilometre area North East of Lethbridge have the
capacity to hold about 700,000 cattle -- the most intensive cattle
feedlot environment in Canada.
"It's a unique research environment where we should be able
to answer the question as to how do we make industry more sustainable
and are there limits on the... density of that industry," said
Dr. Paul Hasselback, chief medical officer of health for the Chinook
Health Region.
A panel appointed by the Manitoba government to look into the province's
expanding livestock industry visited Lethbridge this fall during
a fact-finding tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Chairman Ed Tyrchniewicz
said the panel plans to deliver recommendations to the province
soon. He expects the report to be released to the public early in
the new year.
Potential:
Brent Paterson, head of Alberta Agriculture's irrigation branch,
said phosphorus is the nutrient that builds up too quickly in soil
treated with livestock manure. If Alberta switches to phosphorus-based
regulations, about five times as much land will be required for
manure spreading, he said. "If Manitoba starts there, there's
less potential to run into the problems we've run into here."
Manitoba's farming regulations currently ignore phosphorus, which
can cause toxic algae blooms if it washes off into streams.
The $2.5-million Oldman River Water Quality Initiative was launched
after an earlier federal-provincial study revealed significant surface
water pollution and some contamination of shallow aquifers. "We
did not think we were going to find anything to address," Paterson
said.
Since that wake-up call, Alberta Agriculture's focus has shifted
from value-added agriculture to food safety and environmental sustainability,
he said. The region also has higher than normal rates of E. coli
and other intestinal infections. The Manitoba government has been
promoting value-added production -- mainly in the form of intensive
hog farming -- for at least five years. Hasselback said he is perturbed
that Manitoba decided to proceed with hog industry expansion before
addressing the underlying issues.
|