Public Health Hazard? My "proof" needs no government study.
"

Most of the information I have compiled in a couple of years of researching mink industry  pollution came from common sense observation...not to mention anonymous  disgruntled people in the industry,newspaper clips, government publications and internet research....... sometimes I simply stumbled on stuff by going places where I may not have been welcome.... like along rivers and lakeshores where effluent leaves it's ugly trail on the way downstream. There were times when I had to be 'sneaky', but I never once had to violate a No Trespassing sign. It's right there in front of your eyes,  staring at you from public property.

Drive around 'mink country' and you will see that most mink farm  locations don't allow for easy observaton  of obvious environmental infractions. But once in a while I got lucky, and stumbled into things that were right under my nose; like a hidden stinkpipe that showed up from the canoe in early spring because the area around it showed color contrast with its  bright green nutrient-rich outfall into Nowlans lake. 

  Or "my favorite fishing hole" , located just a short distance from Hilltown on a public road  which cuts across the bottom of a  gentle downslope . Here the road creates a dam effect, and water buildup is relieved through a highways culvert. . Nearby,  observers  can  see shiny white metal buildings and steel roofs on a large mink farm built on the gentle hill sloping  up to the east.Typical of most farms in the industry, no sign or public identifier exists except  a civic address number:#981. 

Standing on the road , one can watch  the effluent from  mink farm open-air manure management draining through the ditches ,underneath the road, and disappearing into the trees.
Number 981 Hilltown road is listed on an assessment form completed by Dennis Moerman , the local Department of Agriculture representative, as Hillsdale Fur Farm  Limited.Even to the untrained eye, it becomes apparent from the highway that the runoff from this farm flows totally through the highway culvert you see in  picture #008(attached)

Driving slowly along this road one warm day with my windows open, I  was stopped in my tracks by a sewage  odor throughout the car. And even though dense foliage grows over and around the ditches it took a while to realize that THIS DITCH IS A SEWER! 

  . It wasn't necessary to trespass on anybody's land to see the truth..... this small and inconspicuous window of evidence shows how most mink farms pollute our waterways .....in this case channeling a vile leachant through  a public highway infrastructure .

But note the words our Government Rep uses to describe the farm runoff..."RUNOFF FILTERED THROUGH WOODS-NO STREAMS AND LAKES IN CLOSE PROXIMITY. ( I guess that means it's OK., cuz it's "filtered" through the woods.)

 Recently the vice president of the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association attended a packed meeting of concerned citizens at the Carleton Fire Hall... the goal being to initiate a Tusket/Carleton/Wentworth  River Watershed Group focused on 'Clean Water for the People'. He  spoke of how trespassers had ventured on his property to take samples, how one mink farmer had received a threat against his family , and  complained about 'all the "shit" he has had to take  in his job as VP .When he repeated that same old mantra that was recently heard from the Agriculture Minister MacDonnel in that same Carleton Fire Hall:  "There is no scientific evidence that mink farms are polluting the rivers"  . This comment brought another groan from the audience...  a surprisingly polite, respectful groan.

   Despite those patronizing words, his point about lack of government regulations was well received .Everybody agrees that we need positive government environmental  regulation action .. not only for the industry, but for the people as well. 

It's just that while  both the Minister of Agriculture and the NSMBA deny culpability  in the first place, how can we take seriously their claim to want to clean up" pollution -that -does -not -exist" ?
 I would think he could take comfort in the fact that all present recognized the economic contribution the mink industry makes to this area,and would not wish to destroy an industry that employs our own neighbors and relatives.

..However, when our own government  passes out millions of  easy taxpayer dollars to the people who are costing us millions in damages , it goes hard against the grain; Angry  taxpayers are  reluctantly financing the degradation and demise of their  own watershed environment. 
Think about it: Million Dollar Grants for "10 or 11 new licenses". 
Absolutely no money allocated to clean up existing pollution. 

The attached picture (Highway Culvert) was taken about the second week in July.Water levels were low, and most small woodland streams were nearly dried up . Yet a steady stinking effluent  flow emerges  from dense growth on the east side of the road , passes  through a  government culvert , and disappears into the trees  .This ditch/stream is not shown on the government topographical map , but aerial  mapping photos do outline a minimal stream that eventually wanders through more mink farms on Highway 340 ,and south to join the Wentworth/Tusket river. On Sunday July 10th,  an unusually heavy daylong  rainfall carried a large volume of runoff   through the culvert. And the colors that streaked the surface of the fast moving water told me that the large mink farm  just upstream and out of view  was undergoing a  major  flush .. ... As Archie Bunker would say.. All those water soluble nutrients  were just "going away".Our Agricultural Representative says it a different way: "Runoff filtered through woods".
 

Does this outflow of putrid effluent utilizing public highways ditches  constitute a public health hazard? I think it does, and I have reported it to the Department of Health to request an investigation under the Health Protection Act.

Not being a lawyer, I am taking a naive citizen's view of the attached document called  Health Hazards Regulations, ...the  summary you will read  is made under Sections 74 and 106 of the Act:    http://www.gov.ns.ca/just/regulations/regs/hpahzrds.htm

Section 5(1) states that "A medical officer must investigate every report of a health hazard to determine whether a health hazard exists".

section 6  states that "If a medical officer reasonably believes that a reported health hazard does not exist, the medical officer must (a) notify the reporting person of the medical officer's determination; and

(b)inform the reporting person of other options that are available to them to deal with the matter.

Should I make my report to the Department of Agriculture, as Mr.MacDonnel would have it? Perhaps it's worth reading the following letter from a Clementsvale resident  who reported a perceived health hazard from a neighboring mink farm to a skeptical  local Agricultural Representative, and  later supplied photographs . His story tells you why I won't bother to take that route) 

 > Hi John,
> I read your article and you are right on target. This industry makes 
> so much money that the ministry of agriculture, environment and so on, 
> actually protect these farmers from the residents. I have a "Mullen" 
> mink farm near me. First the stink was so unbearable, we called the 
> agriculture office in Weymouth and spoke with Dennis Moerman. Later 
> that same day, he called me to report that he went to this farm and was 
> within five meters of this location before he could detect any smell. 
> A couple of years ago, this farm installed the government approved 
> sewage treatment system. A sess pool. One of only a hand full of 
> industries in the Country, allowed to use such antiquated technology to 
> handle sewage. In the Fall of that year, this farm had the sewage 
> pumped from the sess pool and sprayed on neighboring farm fields. The 
> stink was so bad, you can only imagine. I talked with several 
> neighbors about this only to find that they are afraid to complain as 
> well as anyone who has tried to do something in the past got nowhere.
> During the week, this past week, my wife and I noticed a putrid 
> burning smell outside. It was at night though, and we could not locate 
> the source. It continued each night for three nights. Finally, 
> Thursday night, coming home at dusk from a meeting, I could see the 
> smoke billowing out from the farm. I immediately got my camera and took 
> pictures. The next day, we contacted the ministry of the environment. 
> They said if the smoke is coming from a chimney, it is allowed, 
> regardless of "perceived toxicity's". He changed his tune when I told 
> him the we had photo's that proved there was no chimney involved and 
> emailed him the photo's. We called Dennis next, had to leave a 
> message. When he did not call back, we emailed him the info and the 
> photo's. We have heard nothing back from either department and the 
> burning continues. Even last night again.
> Last year this farm had the "Mink Disease" and the animals were, 
> somehow, disposed of. Although I am unsure, I believe that they are 
> burning dead animals and last years bedding in an attempt to eradicate 
> any trace of the disease from the compound. I also believe that he has 
> been advised to hurry up with the burning and get it finished before the 
> weekend is over so there will be no remaining evidence come Monday, when 
> a formal inspection could be carried out.
> This Farm is in Clementsvale. I can email you the photo's if you 
> like. I also posted this info on KIJIJI.

(name withheld by request)

It took a while to realize that every farm that practices open air manure management is creating a public effluent problem .How they deal with it is what our pollution problem is all about.When mink farmers conscientiously work to keep  effluent out of the waterways, everybody gains. When they  turn their back and allow such widespread leachant runoff our waterways become sewerways.
But when our government knowingly sanctions this bad behavior, the future for our environment , and our river,looks dismal.
Never mind the rhetoric from vested interests; it's really a moral issue. 

This week I will find out whether the Department of Health intends to carry out their stated intention , as seen in the Health Act summary. I asked that local health officials visit the site personally to take a sample from the culvert stream shown here, arguing that there was no need to even leave the highway to complete the task.  So far they have passed the complaint on to the Department of Environment who they say will "act as their agents". I have had no response to my email of July 28th.

Will they investigate and tell us whether a  public health hazard exists here? Or will my report become just another buried file at the Department of Agriculture?.
 According to this document the Department of Health has promised us an answer. According to Minister MacDonnel, he is in charge of all things pertinent to the mink industry.According to our government, there is no problem in the first place.

Take a ride . Examine our Tusket River Watershed, all the way to its headwaters near Weymouth .Drive the Hilltown loop. 
Leave your windows open . Smell the roses . 
The Sloans Lake mink ranch is now a reality,  our government is determined to grow the industry in our constituency with our tax dollars, and nothing short of a citizens uprising will stop it.  They work in secret, so be prepared for unwanted surprises.

Any guesses on the location of our next  Yarmouth county mink ranch?

John Horton(halleyhort@hotmail.com)
your responses are welcomed and appreciated 

There's a Serious Public Safety Hazard..( and nobody's listenin')
 

Yesterday I had a  great boatride with a young fisherman... He lives in Forest Glen and works out of  Pinkney's Point.. In summer he loves to drive his shiny  speedboat along the several miles of lake(s) that make up the Parr Lake/Lake Ogden area of the Wentworth/Carleton/Tusket river system. Cruising at high speed in the open lake,  he slowed to a crawl as we went through the narrows at the K&L Annis bridge, then flew along the western shore of  Lake Ogden to  Hick's Dam.. Several miles of gorgeous river/lake that went by like a well orchestrated travel documentary.... Nice cottage country, dozens of gorgeous new "cottages ". nice real estate,wharves, patios,boats and toys, nice lake, nice people having fun in the sun..
But few of the weekend residents were swimming in the lake... and I didn't see any kids.. Some adults have been waterskiing and boating in a limited way as a raft of blue green algae moves back  and forth across the lake with the prevailing  summer  winds . And although some adventurous people do go swimming when the water looks clear, everybody agrees they don't want to swim on the days when the raft blows in to their own shoreline.. Because the water is downright yucchy when the green stuff blows it up against your wharf.... Looking "down-sun"into the water  with the sunshine over your shoulder ,  visibility becomes  limited to a foot or so by the dense tapioca-like particles....they float at or near the surface in their pre-bloom state ... waiting for the natural conditions that create  the next" bloom.".. 
 

Although we have seen one bloom already this summer , we haven't really learned to accurately predict the next one..
My guess is that summer river residents will see another bright green outbreak in the next few weeks..
And this why I am writing.. ..I am no doctor, but I fear that some person who has a high degree of intolerance to cyanobacteria may be overcome and suffer serious repercussions, if not death. ...
The official government reaction to this is silence...no reaction at all.....Four known  requests , according to councillour John Cunningham, have been made to our Department of Health by Yarmouth Municipal Council.. No response!

So my response is simple.Lets do it ourselves.

What is needed is.a simple black and white poster that gives a basic warning to all swimmers ,boaters and parents..

Don't  Drink the Water !
Don't eat the fish.
No swimming .

We need  advertisement and promotion of this public safety hazard to notify the public of this new and poorly understood phenomenon.And unfortunately, our government is more concerned about political fallout over pollution than the people at risk..

 WE WAITED FOR THEM TO REACT FOR THE LAST 3 SUMMERS, and lets face it,... Even when they had to close down the YMCA camp, no serious posting of a public hazard was even attempted. 

There's a  meeting on Tuesday night,  and the Carleton Legion Hall should hold more people than the previous Fire Hall... 
Lets talk about public safety... Somebody has to deal with this before we end up with a  serious medical casualty..

From salt waters to headwaters,it's getting worse!

 The  cyanobacteria "bloom" is happening, and it can be seen from the comfort of your car. Drive the roads along the west branch of the Tusket river anywhere  from Tusket Falls to Hilltown in Digby County for a unique opportunity  to understand what is happening to our river.
STOP THE CAR  ,STEP OUT AND LOOK FOR "GREEN" AT LOCATIONS WHICH HAVE CALM,SHALLOW AND WARM WATER CONDITIONS. Keep in mind that algae blooms will sometimes 'drift' like an island and often float to the downwind side of a lake or river.

Highway 340,the Forest Glen road to Weymouth, permits frequent glimpses of the river  up to its headwaters near Hilltown.Within a few miles of the  "Hilltown loop"  of roads is  a concentrated group of farms where most of a million mink  are raised every year....Effluent leaches into 3 watersheds, the Sissiboo,the Meteghan  and the Tusket(Wentworth/Carleton), but the Tusket absorbs the lions share of it. 

Canada Day pics on two 'lower lakes' are  morbid testimony to that fact.

 When you tour "Hilltown Heights" you can smell it in the air and you can see it in the ditches.A steady flow of nasty uncontained and untreated leachant flows away from  mink pens that are DESIGNED to drop all urine and manure through open wire cages onto open ground.....thousands of acres of 'manure-fields ' drain through those little streams and ditches ....Some farms are built within illegally close proximity to lakes and rivers, yet municipal and provincial authorities have been ordered to leave them alone.
 It's worth an hour or two of your precious time.It's interesting.It's worth thinking about.

It's very ,very important to the citizens of western nova scotia.
Our government is scamming the people of western Nova Scotia who rely on them to protect our waterways.Our trusted Department of Agriculture has practiced  deceitful policy, politics and promotion  that allows for unacceptable  hazardous environmental conditions and they're not about to cease and desist. 
Regardless of hard working citizens who are trying to change public attitudes, the victims have been losing this uphill  media battle against their own government. 

In a highly publicized press release ,Minister of Agriculture John MacDinnel recently announced the new Fur Industry Act as the solution to  problems in the mink industry. 

(This Act , written by and for the mink industry,doesn't even contain the words 'pollution' or 'clean water'.)
.MacDonnel has actually promised grandfathered older farms political protection so that there will be no specific action  taken to change their destructive manure management practices for at least three full years. 
I call that a license to pollute.

Whether you agree or disagree, you should take this opportunity to go see for yourself . The latest hard data on  oxygen levels in the Tusket shows  that we already have dead spots in lake Fanning  during the heat of summer.Take a look, and let me know what YOU think.
 

  John Horton(halleyhort@hotmail.com)
 
 
 
 
 

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green_slime006.jpg near Mink farm at Raynardton

green_slime008.jpg west side of Raynardton Lake, near junction of Saunders Rd.

green_slime010.jpg west side of Lake Vaughan,at   boat launch on Hamilton rd.

green_slime12.jpg cottage on carleton River

green_slime22.jpg Effluent through highway culvert ,Hilltown

Subject: JUNE 1st/10..It's GETTING WORSE!
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 05:06:58 -0700

Location                                              photo number

near Mink farm at Raynardton                  006
 west side of Raynardton Lake,
near junction of Saunders Rd.                  008
west side of Lake Vaughan,at                  010
 boat launch on Hamilton rd. 
cottage on carleton River                        012
 Effluent through highway                       002
culvert ,Hilltown