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Tammy Morris letter to Cowichan News Leader on Sludge Spreading |
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Letter to Editor
Cowichan News Leader
Dec 4
Does this make sense to you?
Dear editor,
It appears the B.C. government will rename heavy industrial waste and
sludge. It will now be called a "soil enhancer" and their code will
authorize coastal pulp and paper mills to land-spread their wastes
(currently being landfilled on industrially zoned land) on B.C.
agricultural and forest land by early 2006.
Of course, it must meet the Ministry of Environment's always very
strict regulating and enforcement guidelines. This will be a major cost
savings for Catalyst (Catalyst's Crofton pulp mill has indicated it has
no interest in the proposal- editor), as a major challenge for their
industry is securing industrial zoned landfill space.
They may even be able to package their waste and sell it to a store
near you as fertilizer. Just one minor problem, toxic chemicals are
contaminating Canadians. Many of the chemicals found in landfill waste
have been discovered in the bodies of Canadians and are associated with
cancer, hormone disruption, reproductive disorders, respiratory
illnesses and harming the development of children.
So the governments' solution to this problem is to quickly and quietly
develop a code of practise for the beneficial use of industrial wastes
on land. In it they are promoting all the beneficial lime, ash, and
biosolids that will improve our crop growth in agricultural and
forestry application. They also advise that the deadline for public
comment is Dec. 15, 2005 and after that public comments will not be
taken into account. The ministry is already on phase two of the
four-phase implementation process and the public and media don't seem
to know. If your research and basic common sense tells you this is not
a great idea, please let others know and send a note to the provincial
Minister of Environment before Dec. 15.
For more information see:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epdiv/ema_codes_of_practice/soil_enhance.html
-Tammy Morris,
Westholme
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