Organic farmer Lana Popham is one of many expressing concern over what is going into soil.
By Amy Dove News staff Aug 31 2007
Moving industrial waste byproducts from the landfill to farmland is a backwards move in terms of food protection, say local organic farmers. “It is a creative way to get rid of industrial waste,” said Lana Popham, an organic farmer in Saanich for 10 years. “I don’t understand why they would put it on agricultural land. Nobody knows what this will do to our food.”
Ranging from fly ash, a byproduct of burning wood, to human feces from
domestic water treatment plants, the materials have been applied to
B.C. land for more than 10 years, said Kel Hicke, an environmental
management officer with the B.C. Ministry of Environment. Effective
Sept. 1, a new Code of Practices for Soil Amendments on farm, forest
and urban land will tighten the application process to ensure
consistency among people adding byproducts from pulp mills and other
industrial processes to soil. An amendment is any material added to
soil to improve its ability to retain water, drainage and other
qualities needed for growing.
Deemed safe by both the ministry and health authorities, the products
are proven to assist in growing conditions. They would otherwise be
disposed of in a landfill or be burned, Hicke said.
“What’s being applied is for the benefit of the soil,” he said. “It’s
not getting rid of this material, it’s making use of this material.”
Promoting the use of such materials is an Orwellian move, said Samuel Godfrey with Islands Organic Producers Association.
“This idea that our government would enable this kind of dumping onto agricultural land is very inappropriate,” Godfrey said.
What effects increased use of such material will have on local produce
and organic farms certification is questionable, Popham said. Adding
industrial products to the soil can have serious consequences on both
land and human health if not done properly.
To safe guard soil quality, third-party professionals are hired to
analyze what is being supplied to ensure contaminant levels are
acceptable before applying the material to land, Hicke said.
The risks for farmers and consumers are too high to justify using these
materials in soil, Godfrey said. For example, fly ash is included in
the code as acceptable and in some cases ash has been found to contain
toxins and possible carcinogens, Godfrey said.
Used on a neighbouring property, chemicals could leach into the soil or
water table. On certified organic land, that could mean the farmer is
stripped of their certification, Godfrey added.
Deb Foote, president of the board of directors for Certified Organic
Associations of B.C., noted each case would be treated individually but
organic farmers’ concerns are justified as they are not allowed to add
much more than manure to their soil.
The ministry is aware of that concern and there are measures in place
to ensure contaminants are isolated to the applicant’s soil, Hicke
explained.
Applicants can only apply the bare minimum that their specific crops
need to grow, meaning that there is no excess material to leach into
the water table. Any applicant found to be misusing the material would
be prosecuted, he added.
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