Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:41:13 -0300
From: John Horton <halleyhort@hotmail.com> 

This was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes listserve today. I can't endorse it since I know nothing about it, but there's a contact person who can provide more details. Please fwd it along to your own lists if you think anyone might wish to attend... ~ Trudy 
 

*Testing the Waters: A Water Quality Workshop*

Wondering what’s brewing in your local lake? If a nearby river is fish-friendly or swimmable? Come learn how to test the water quality of your local rivers, streams, and lakes. This workshop will include presentations by the Sierra Club of Canada, St. Mary’s University’s Community-Based Environmental Monitoring Network, and the Eastern Shore Forest Watch, a
community group with water monitoring experience, followed by a hands-on session on water quality testing. After this workshop, you will be equipped with the knowledge necessary to start monitoring water quality and to keep an eye on your watershed.

Location: St. Philip Neri Roman Catholic Church, Musquodoboit Harbour

Date and Time: October 24th, 2009 from 11am to 3pm

Cost: 15$

For more information or to register, contact Dane George at 444-3113 or
daneg@sierraclub.ca

All sides (Ranchers, Government & Citizens) agree that their is a problem in the South West Nova Scotia watershed area.

Mr. Prime pointed out that several sections of this web site may be misleading.   First mink are not tanned in the local area  and Nowlands Lake empties into the Metagan not the Carleton water system.  Mr. Anthony explained why the changing of bylaws was not a simple process.  Callers expressed concern over the seriousness of the pollution to health and property value.  Callers also explained why mink ranching was important to the area. 

This week's program and other programs are or will be found in the CJLS  Audio Vault  http://www.cjls.com/audio_vault.html.

The meeting seams to have been successful.  Both sides expressed their concerns.  Their were no angry disputes and some of the members from both groups talked and shook hands after the meeting.  Both sides agreed that their was a serious problem in the Carleton system with regard to toxic algae. 

Please send us your views on the meeting.

From: trujoben@xplornet.com
To: council@municipality.clare.ns.ca
Subject: Final Report on Nine Lakes in the Carleton Watershed Area
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:22:36 -0300
 

Dear Clare Municipal Councillors & Others,
 

I am very pleased to report that I had a productive phone conversation last Sunday (Sept. 21) with my Councillor, Dan Hill, about the urgent situation with the contamination of waterways by waste run-off from SOME mink farms. After telling him about my meeting with members of a group of concerned citizens down in Carleton, Dan asked if it would relieve my mind to have him organize a meeting with them and Clare Council. They have researched the source and extent of the pollution and assembled a power point presentation documenting this issue. Of course, I was tremendously relieved--and grateful--to accept! The Carleton group was too! I am now awaiting word back from them to set a date for that meeting to happen. THANK YOU, Dan, for your kind attention and response to my very lengthy phone conversation! 
 

Given the accelerated level of activity on this issue in the Yarmouth/Argyle area at this time, it may be a few weeks before they are free to come up. When they do, I hope that all of you will make a point of being there and treating these incredibly generous neighbours with the respect and consideration they deserve! All they are asking is that Clare put by-laws and associated resources in place to prevent further damage and ensure that appropriate waste management procedures be required and used  by all who engage in the industry. 

I urge those who receive this on time to attend the By-Law Amendment Forum being held in Hebron tonight, Monday, Sept 28th:

There will be a By-Law Amendments hearing at the Rotary Centre (Yarmouth Recreation Complex)
105 Cemetery Road, Hebron, 
Monday night September 28th at 6:30. 
 

The purpose of the hearing is to discuss increasing the distance between fur farms and watercourses.
DIRECTIONS: The center is in the the Hebron Recreation Complex - Hwy 340/Cemetery Road. This is also the access road to and from the 101 from Clare.  Turn into the long UNPAVED driveway by the Cemetery across from the golf driving range) anyone from outlying communities are welcome to attend, discuss their experience and advise why they think an increased separation distance might be a good thing.
 

Before closing, I want to add that one of the presenters, geologist and fieldworker Randy Cleveland, was very interested in learning more about the use of beneficial probiotic micro-organisms for composting and as a potential method for cleaning the polluted waters. I was proud to relate what I knew of the work and research done over the years at Spectacle Lake and elsewhere in the Municipality of Clare. I also mentioned the Gussing, Austria  adventure. It would be such a wonderful change of outcome to see a viable fertilizer industry or renewable energy production facility come from this. Something that generates a positive return on the investment of energy and resources while leaving our precious waterways intact.  All it takes is a collective vision and lots of hard work to create a scenario the world would want to come and see! Perhaps the same kind of vision and hard work that inspired the building of the dykes and aboiteux! 
 

Respectfully,
Trudy Bengivenni
 

143 Lower Mill Road, Concession
Box 151, RR#1 Church Pt.
Nova Scotia  B0W 1M0
Phone: (902)769-0234 
Fax: (902)769-0080
Email: trujoben@xplornet.com
 

Attached for your interest:
 

The Weekender Sunday Sept 27.  (http://www.cjls.com/ )

I was not able to find a link to the program. If anyone has that info please let me know.
Program was very interesting and they plan to have a 2 hour follow up program.  TBA.
If you have any comments to post here send to Email webmaster@yarmouth.org  (Subject-line-type:Mink). 

Several things I would like to comment on

1. The anonymous letter is that, anonymous and for anyone to say it came from any group or side is only speculation. 

2.  The statement that the pollution source cannot be located because it cannot be pin-pointed is very misleading and is either said in ignorance or as a way to deflect discussion. Link: ( Locating the source of pollution.)

We need the jobs, but at what cost?

2- "10 or 11 new licenses issued in the past year." How many more to come?
 

Please ask your friends and anyone concerned about the sustainability of our watercourses to attend the Meeting in the Rotary Centre, 105 Cemetery Road in Hebron at 6:30 pm on September 28, 2009. For details on directions to the Rotary Centre please contact the Municipal Office at 742-7159. Any written submission concerning the proposed amendments should be submitted to the Municipal Office at least two days before the Public Hearing. 

Hopefully someone from each lake/ river in the Municipality will present. 
 

Aerial photographs taken September 20 showing that the stream running through the property. It appears as though  the stream has been compromised. 

There seems to be a water problem at the wet area just above the logs sitting alongside the road between the two clearings. Also please notice the line running through what appears to be an abandoned road location. Just to the left is a narrowing in the constructed road. I believe this is the equalization culvert referred to by Dept of Natural Resources when they say:

"...land was cleared to construct a straight road to the clearing, this path was not used for a roadway, instead they cleared a new path and constructed the road to avoid the brook....  An equalization culvert was installed under the constructed roadway, it was done in a low wet area without a defined channel. This does not require an approval from NSE, as it does not meet the definitions of a watercourse or wetland."

The crossing point appears to be the wet area just above the logs sitting alongside the road between the two clearings. Please zoom in on the wet spots on both sides of the road. 
I would also like to point out that Sloans Lake is one of only five lakes in Nova Scotia, and Canada, where the pink coreopsis plant  (PDF report), a listed endangered species, is found. It has been documented directly in front of this property.

Rick Murphy
 
 

Thank you for your concerns regarding possible watercourse alterations at R & N Farms Limited property, Sloans Lake Yarmouth County.

Yes, NSE is responsible for issuing approvals for watercourse alterations.

---Prior to constructing the road the property owners hired a Certified Professional who advised them to construct their road in a manner to avoid the watercourse altogether.  As you can see in Photo #1, land was cleared to construct a straight road to the clearing, this path was not used for a roadway, instead they cleared a new path and constructed the road to avoid the brook.  The property owners have also implemented erosion sedimentation control methods to ensure an adverse effect does not occur to the brook.  An equalization culvert was installed under the constructed roadway, it was done in a low wet area without a defined channel.  This does not require an approval from NSE, as it does not meet the definitions of a watercourse or wetland.

You pointed out a wet area on the left side of Photo # 2.  I was at the site two weeks prior and did not identify a watercourse or wetland in this area, I walked the entire perimeter of the cleared land and did not find any alterations to wetlands or watercourses at the site.

NSE staff have been to the site on several occasions.  We were also on the site yesterday and no violation was identified.

If you require further information you can contact me at 742-8985.

Regards,  Steve

Hi

Here are some web sites related to Blue Green Algae (Cyanobacteria) - the more people know, the better.

International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB)
Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria) and their Toxins    Health Canada
Cyanobacterial Toxins -- Microcystin-LR Health Canada
Nova Scotia Environment: http://gov.ns.ca/nse/water/docs/BlueGreenAlgae.pdf
Water Treatment - Removal of Cyanobacteria Toxins: article.pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Debbie Hall
Carleton

I just received the attached information from Peter MacDonald on Endangered Species in Yarmouth County.  I have also attached an article from Macleans Magazine August 14/09 edition.  Thought it would be interesting reading.

Related web sites: 

http://www.speciesatrisk.ca/coastalplainflora/documents/Restrictions_ACPF_Yarmouth_Final.pdf
Wharf permits may not be issued to individual property owners on any of the 13 lakes identified (See list attached) if it is determined that the shore land provides  occupied or future habitat for Pink Coreopsis, Plymouth Gentian or Water  Pennywort.  Properties with existing wharves, or those property owners that were issued permits prior to application of  these new standards (2002) will be "grand  fathered" and are not affected. 

http://www.gov.ns.ca/natr/wildlife/biodiv/specieslist.htm
NS Endangered Species Act: Legally Listed Species as of 2007
Pink Coreopsis   Coreopsis rosea   Endangered

http://www.speciesatrisk.ca/municipalities/index.html

Debbie Boudreau

The left bottle contains water taken from a lake in the village of Havelock (north of Carelton), on its shore Mink farms are operating.

The right bottle contains water from the Sloans Lake in Carleton, where a Mink Farm is intended to be developed. Sloans Lake is one of the very few independent lakes, not linked to the polluted waterways arround.  ( Note: It does empty into the Carleton & then the Tusket System and then into the Bay of Fundy food chains.  Insert by GJ LeBlanc)

NOTHING IS MANIPULATED ON THIS SAMPLES, THIS IS THE ALARMING THRUTH I SHALL DRIVE YOU UP FOR FURTHER SAMPLES IF YOU WANT AND I WOULD VERY MUCH WELCOME YOU ON SLOANS LAKE, COME TO VISIT MY PLACE AND SEE THE TREASURE WE HAVE.

To: <webmaster@yarmouth.org>,
Subject: cbc radio report link 
Sept.4/09

Good CBC Radio show this morning.     For any that did not hear it I will attach a link you will need real player to play it.  Don't worry if you don't have it the computer will give you a free download.  A  interview will be aired on  CBC national all over Canada today at 5:00 and 6:00 pm.

Jennifer

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, blue-green bacteria or Cyanophyta, is a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" comes from the color of the bacteria (Greek: ?????? (kyanós) = blue) (source)

Algae (pronounced /?æld?i?/; singular alga /?æl??/, Latin for "seaweed") are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds. 
(source)

These rivers empty into the Atlantic, into the Bay of Fundy.  Salt water is not exempt from the effects of excess nutrients, algae blooms and the biological magnification of toxins.  To risk one of the richest fishing grounds in the world is not logical. 

"Phosphorous and nitrogen are two of the major products in mink manure 62,000 tons of manure per year. One result is nearly 1,000 tons of phosphorus" (source)   1000 tons, 2000lb/ton= (2,000,000) pounds of phosphorus into our ecosystem. "One pound of phosphorus can result in the growth 350-700 lbs. of green algae". (source)  Therefore this could theoretically result in almost 1 billion pounds or 1,000,000,000 pounds of algae per year in these system.  Algae growth build up is greatest in slower moving sections of the river system , lake bottoms and coves, etc.  It builds up here over the years,the process is self replicating aand increases with intensity year after year. 

Nutrient pollution, especially from nitrogen and phosphorus, has consistently ranked as one of the top causes of degradation in some U.S. waters for more than a decade. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus lead to significant water quality problems including harmful algal blooms, hypoxia and declines in wildlife and wildlife habitat. Excesses have also been linked to higher amounts of chemicals that make people sick.{ ( source) Last updated on Monday, February 9th, 2009. http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/nutrient/}

In June 2004, public health officials in Dane County, Wisconsin, issued a warning to lake swimmers: Avoid Blue-Green Algae. A heat wave and phosphorus nutrient pollution caused enormous blooms of the algae, a form of cyanobacteria, which can produce neurotoxins (affecting the nervous system) and hepatotoxins (affecting the liver). In 2002, a Dane County teen died from ingesting these algae-produced toxins while swimming in an area lake.  (1) Killing blue-green algae does not diminish its impact on public health, as the dead cells still contain toxins. The only solution is to prevent the algal blooms, and the way to achieve this is to reduce phosphorus pollution in the watershed. (source)

Is this where the Southwest Nova Scotia ecosystems is headed?
Quotes below are fromMacLeans Aug 24-2009
"Canada’s sickest lake:Living, toxic goo is killing lakes the world over. It may be too late for Lake Winnipeg. " "What was once a small patch of algae, first noted in the 1990s, now grows to smother more than half of the massive 24,500-sq.-km lake most summers. In 2006, the pea soup blanket covered almost the entire lake, home to 10,000 cottagers, a $100-million tourism and recreation industry, and a $25-million commercial fishery." "Globally, the problem—known as “eutrophication”—is the “No. 1” water quality issue we face, says Salki. The culprit isn’t oil spills, toxic waste or even pesticides, but nutrient overloading from fertilizers, human and animal waste. Nitrogen and phosphorus do precisely in water what they do on land: cause plant life to run wild and multiply like crazy."  For complete article go to(Source)

Chemicals in the mink tanning Process

Formaldehyde, chromium, and other dangerous carcinogens are used in the processing of pelts to stop the fur from rotting. These chemicals are released into the environment with runoff water from these facilities.  (source)  (source2)
Among the disastrous consequences of this noxious waste is the threat to human health from the highly elevated levels of lead, cyanide, and formaldehyde in the ground water near tanneries. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the incidence of leukemia among residents in an area surrounding one tannery in Kentucky was five times the national average.(source) 

Poisons in Food Chains

A variety of toxic chemicals, including unnatural synthetics, have been and are dumped into ecosystems. Many cannot be degraded by microbes and persist for years or decades. Some are harmless when released but are converted to toxic poisons by reactions with other substances or metabolism of microbes. Organisms acquire toxic substances along with nutrients or water, some of which accumulate in their tissues.

Biological magnification

    This is the process by which toxins become more concentrated with each link in a food chain. Results from biomass at each trophic level being produced from a much larger biomass ingested from the level below. The top-level carnivores are usually most severely affected by toxic compounds released into the environment.
 

MORE

If you would like to comment on his letter or if you have concerns of your own, or to add to this site  please contact me webmaster@yarmouth.org

From: halleyhort@hotmail.com
To: halleyhort@hotmail.com
Subject: 
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:04:52 -0700
 

Green Algae in the Tusket River Chain!

I live in Forest Glen , in Yarmouth County. Every day I watch the Carleton river flow by, and I wonder how long it will take for my river to die.  I only started paying serious attention a few years ago, when a new waterplant  became obvious: an aggressive blue green algae which rapidly spread out through the main trunk of the west branch of the Tusket River.  But what woke me up was the seriousness of the stories told by people at a meeting in Carleton to deal with this new "green slime".  About 100 taxpayers told of their own efforts to figure out , identify, and obtain information from government officials.  Barrie MacGregor of the YMCA told of how for the last two summers  Camp Wapomeo has been forced to evacuate their own lakefront facilities and walk the kids to nearby Mink Lake, which is clear.  After 100 years, Lake Fanning had become unfit to swim in.  A lady who recently invested in a lakefront campground expressed concern for her new business because her sandy beach now gets covered with green slime.  Mothers told of children getting a rash after swimming, some with serious consequences. More than anything nobody had a single good story to tell about being successful in learning anything about it.  What is it? What causes it?  What is its source?  What treatment is possible?  It seems concerned citizens have been trying for some time to get government officials to do something about it: and government officials don't  seem to be doing much of anything. My conclusion after leaving this meeting was that nothing was about to happen.  So I bought one of those green topographical maps and started looking .......  upstream.

I was surprised  to find that the Tusket river system actually starts...as far north as to be about 10 miles from Weymouth. Brooks and streams in communities like Southville and Hilltown form the headwaters for the Wentworth, which flows south to the Carleton river, and becomes the Tusket before reaching  salt water.  Water flows north , south and west from the Hilltown area ... to the Sissiboo and the Meteghan RIvers as well.  That makes it a watershed, doesn't it?. There's a heavy concentration of mink farms between New Tusket and Hassett, and considerable related industry spinoff. Mink farming is a big business in Nova Scotia, and you can see the prosperity through your windshield as you tour the area in your car:  industrial equipment, steel buildings, trucks and new highly visible investment in production. Steel roofed mink pens lined up by the dozens:  actually there are acres and acres of mink pens in the area. It's the most concentrated  area of mink pens I have ever seen.  Problem is, these mink  ranchers are polluting our waterways.  Almost all of them. 

If you share a concern for the health of your waterways, then take a drive to the Hilltown "loop", and spend some time looking at how mink farms handle-or fail to handle-their effluent. Check out the roadside streams, take a sample of water from the ditches.  Notice the green algae.  These ranches are allowing the unrestricted flow of effluent from acres and acres  of open-air mink excrement.  Every mink ranch I saw uses the standard commercial practice of keeping their mink in cages inside long narrow metal  roofed pens.  The mink droppings fall through a steel wire floor onto open ground, accumulating rows of manure which is handled by machine.  Snows, rains or the nightly dew all contribute to the leaching process carrying water-soluble bio-waste into nearby brooks and streams. 

Open-air manure management means acres and acres of mink excrement exposed year round to rains and runoff. It means that all the waters of the main river are well "fertilized ",   creating an ideal environment for the blue-green algae. It means that you can follow a path of green slime right up the river to it's place of origin. And it means that kids for miles downstream  must be careful  about where they choose to swim.  For the river contains more than just elevated levels  of nitrogen and phosphorus. Unfortunately, a mainly- fish diet for mink brings with  it unnaturally high levels of heavy metals, especially mercury and lead.  Also present are unquantifiable traces of veterinary medicines , antibiotics , synthetic hormones, bleach , detergents, and related chemicals of the industry.

A lot of damage has been done.

Mink ranching began over 50 years ago in western Nova Scotia, when a few thousand critters was a lot. Sure, they polluted, but it didn't seem like too much and nobody was complaining. But in recent years the sheer numbers of mink have overcome the capacity of the industry to deal with it.. now there are millions,  and still no system in place for the industry to handle its own mess.
 
 

Herein lies the problem; we have an industry that is doing a lot of damage to the environment and nobody seems to even be aware of it, let alone acknowledge the problem. How about the leaders of the industry, the old timers, the successful ranchers who can afford the investment to change things?  Is there even one ideally-operated mink ranch that leaves no nasty environmental footprint? Is even one ranch "doing it right"?
In researching the subject I learned of only one local farm that runs its manure through a leach field. This has to change, and change soon, before the complete river system dies.

Excrement must be completely contained and processed through a leach field or other suitable treatment.  We don't allow humans to throw their manure out in open fields to watch it rot and leach away.  It's even more important that we do not allow the effluent from millions of mink to drain into our water system.  Not even a little bit.

Mink ranchers keep a low profile, and they've learned to avoid exposure through the media.  This unwritten policy has enabled many offenders to maintain the status quo, and contributed to worsening conditions on rivers like the Tusket. The damage done is greatly understated: large salmon runs have been gone for years, eel populations are desperately low,  gaspereaux numbers are endangered, and smallmouth bass have replaced brook trout as the  most common sportfish.

It's NOT OK to let our industrial waste pollute our rivers, and our lawmakers, politicians and bureaucrats must immediately acknowledge and remedy this problem. Thousands of people are living  downstream and depending on the Tusket, along with other  local rivers, for the quality of their lifestyle. Taxpayers are worried about property values and parents are worried about their children swimming.

We have a serious problem!
And mink ranchers must stop their unrestricted open drainage into our water systems.
Every day that we do nothing our river will be dying; and  so will our quality of life.

John Halley Horton

Forest Glen, NS

Email:  halleyhort@hotmail.com (your feedback/suggestions would be appreciated)

 Nova Scotia Water and Wastewater Branch of the NS Dept. Environment has now published  A WATER QUALITY SURVEY  OF NINE LAKES IN THE CARLETON RIVER WATERSHED AREA ...a professionally prepared report, publically available online. Interesting conclusions and recommendations . Click on the link below.
Kudos to Jeanne and Randy Cleveland ,Paul McLaughlin , Debbie and Alan Hall , TREPA etc.
 for long hours of hard ,frustrating , unappreciated  work slogging through this pile of......
Your time and effort is appreciated
However , the general public (spelled  "voters" ) in large measure still isn't  convinced 
 about what is happening to our TUsket RIVER. So  please FORWARD this to any and all interested parties.  Click on the link below.  John H. Horton
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/water/surfacewater/docs/Yarmouth.Area.Lakes.Report.with.Appendices.pdf

The purpose of this site is to promote public awareness to what I see as a developing ecological nightmare for many residence in southwest Nova Scotia. 

Mink Stink was the title.  All this was a bit interesting. sort of a catchy title.

On Aug. 18th,  with little more than an hours notice,  along with about 30 area residents I attended a municipal council meeting.  The first part of the meeting consisted of a "mission statement" of how they were going to protect the cultural, and ecological,  etc. aspects of the county.  The second half  they explained why they could not do anything about the factory mink farms in the area. 

On Aug. 19th I attended a meeting in Carleton,  the epicenter of the next mink factory farm. People from neighboring counties also attended.  The later part of the meeting consisted of a slide presentation that reminded me of the movie "The Killing Fields".  Pictures of open pits of manure, dead mink carcasses, polluted ditches running into a "green lake" that emptying into the Carleton sytems.

The Carleton drains into the Tusket, then into Tusket estuaries and into some of the most productive fishing grounds in the world.  The fish go to the markets then onto your table.   What happens in these watershed areas affects you. 

Places along the Carleton system are having algae blooms unlike any seen before.  Bathers are talking about skin rashes.  People in the know, are scared for the future of their communities.  Political institutions, departments of whatever do not seam able to deal with the situation.  In my opinion smell is the least of your worries.

It is not just the mink that stink, John. 

From: John Horton <halleyhort@hotmail.com> 
To: gj leblanc <webmaster@yarmouth.org> 
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:03:11 -0700 

pic 0907.The  Mullen farm near the Baptist church in Havelock drains into both the Tusket and Meteghan watersheds. 
More Information

Biological Magnification.
 

Webmaster: G.J.LeBlanc BScEd.

What are cyanobacteria?

Cyanobacteria is the scientific name for blue-green algae, or "pond scum." The first recognized species were blue-green in colour, which is how the algae got their name. Species identified since range in colour from olive-green to red.
From:Health Canada: More Information
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/cyanobacter-eng.php

Element concentrations in livers and kidneys of ranch mink
Source: http://jvdi.org/cgi/reprint/1/4/343.pdf
in part by the Mink Farmers Research Foundation, (USA)

Why are the ranches so close to water?
Eutrification.
Chemicals in Mink food.
Closing swimming areas,  green algae blooms,  skin rashes 
Into the ocean..

From: John Horton <halleyhort@hotmail.com> 
To: gj leblanc <webmaster@yarmouth.org> 
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:03:11 -0700 

pic 0907.The  Mullen farm near the Baptist church in Havelock drains into both the Tusket and Meteghan watersheds. 
.

More Information

From: John Horton <halleyhort@hotmail.com> 
To: J horton <hortonj014@yahoo.ca> 
Subject: FW: Hilltown Loop   aug 1st/09.. 
Date: Sat, 1 Aug. 2009 07:18:32 -0700 

 Concentrated mink farming area : Hilltown ,NS  Aug 1st/09
 The "green lake" is  Nowlans Lake, located on Hwy 340  alongside the old Havelock Elementary School.   For those who have never driven the Hilltown 'loop', why not take a casual ride and see firsthand   how our rivers got polluted. 
Hilltown Loop
John Halley Horton 
your comments and opinions would  be appreciated .

Jennifer, these taken Friday31st July, Sloans Lake  Yarmouth Co.
Will you please forward to all interested parties, especially TREPA addresses and connections. 
Site of Proposed Mink Ranch
John H

AN IMPORTANT RECOGNITION FROM A CLARE RESIDENT .

Trudy Bengiovini is an involved and concerned taxpayer who has written to her fellow residents from Clare about the serious mink farm pollution  being produced and then exported "down the river" to Yarmouth county.The repondents' letters have had  their  names  removed , but their good  intentions are very obvious.
 Local municipal governments in western Nova Scotia ,however, have traditionally offered quiet background support for fur farming .Provincial and federal  governments still offer grants , loans and  technical assistance to this profitable industry,while none of our 3 levels of government actually requires  serious  ecological responsibility for an ongoing fur farm . 
The  open manure from all these mink farms leaches continually into the Tusket, the Meteghan River, and the Sissiboo.
And while Yarmouth county has few fur farms by comparison, taxpayers  are just waking up to the fact that their Tusket River is in really hard shape , mostly as a result of  "imported" pollution that has been flushed ...............down the Tusket Toilet. 
Methinks The People care more about pollution than our governments do.
Thank you, Trudy B, for speaking out.

John Halley Horton
Forest Glen , NS

If you would like to comment on his letter or if you have concerns of your own, or to add to this site  please contact me webmaster@yarmouth.org

From: halleyhort@hotmail.com
To: halleyhort@hotmail.com
Subject: 
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:04:52 -0700
 

Green Algae in the Tusket River Chain!

I live in Forest Glen , in Yarmouth County. Every day I watch the Carleton river flow by, and I wonder how long it will take for my river to die.  I only started paying serious attention a few years ago, when a new waterplant  became obvious: an aggressive blue green algae which rapidly spread out through the main trunk of the west branch of the Tusket River.  But what woke me up was the seriousness of the stories told by people at a meeting in Carleton to deal with this new "green slime".  About 100 taxpayers told of their own efforts to figure out , identify, and obtain information from government officials.  Barrie MacGregor of the YMCA told of how for the last two summers  Camp Wapomeo has been forced to evacuate their own lakefront facilities and walk the kids to nearby Mink Lake, which is clear.  After 100 years, Lake Fanning had become unfit to swim in.  A lady who recently invested in a lakefront campground expressed concern for her new business because her sandy beach now gets covered with green slime.  Mothers told of children getting a rash after swimming, some with serious consequences. More than anything nobody had a single good story to tell about being successful in learning anything about it.  What is it? What causes it?  What is its source?  What treatment is possible?  It seems concerned citizens have been trying for some time to get government officials to do something about it: and government officials don't  seem to be doing much of anything. My conclusion after leaving this meeting was that nothing was about to happen.  So I bought one of those green topographical maps and started looking .......  upstream.

I was surprised  to find that the Tusket river system actually starts...as far north as to be about 10 miles from Weymouth. Brooks and streams in communities like Southville and Hilltown form the headwaters for the Wentworth, which flows south to the Carleton river, and becomes the Tusket before reaching  salt water.  Water flows north , south and west from the Hilltown area ... to the Sissiboo and the Meteghan RIvers as well.  That makes it a watershed, doesn't it?. There's a heavy concentration of mink farms between New Tusket and Hassett, and considerable related industry spinoff. Mink farming is a big business in Nova Scotia, and you can see the prosperity through your windshield as you tour the area in your car:  industrial equipment, steel buildings, trucks and new highly visible investment in production. Steel roofed mink pens lined up by the dozens:  actually there are acres and acres of mink pens in the area. It's the most concentrated  area of mink pens I have ever seen.  Problem is, these mink  ranchers are polluting our waterways.  Almost all of them. 

If you share a concern for the health of your waterways, then take a drive to the Hilltown "loop", and spend some time looking at how mink farms handle-or fail to handle-their effluent. Check out the roadside streams, take a sample of water from the ditches.  Notice the green algae.  These ranches are allowing the unrestricted flow of effluent from acres and acres  of open-air mink excrement.  Every mink ranch I saw uses the standard commercial practice of keeping their mink in cages inside long narrow metal  roofed pens.  The mink droppings fall through a steel wire floor onto open ground, accumulating rows of manure which is handled by machine.  Snows, rains or the nightly dew all contribute to the leaching process carrying water-soluble bio-waste into nearby brooks and streams. 

Open-air manure management means acres and acres of mink excrement exposed year round to rains and runoff. It means that all the waters of the main river are well "fertilized ",   creating an ideal environment for the blue-green algae. It means that you can follow a path of green slime right up the river to it's place of origin. And it means that kids for miles downstream  must be careful  about where they choose to swim.  For the river contains more than just elevated levels  of nitrogen and phosphorus. Unfortunately, a mainly- fish diet for mink brings with  it unnaturally high levels of heavy metals, especially mercury and lead.  Also present are unquantifiable traces of veterinary medicines , antibiotics , synthetic hormones, bleach , detergents, and related chemicals of the industry.

A lot of damage has been done.

Mink ranching began over 50 years ago in western Nova Scotia, when a few thousand critters was a lot. Sure, they polluted, but it didn't seem like too much and nobody was complaining. But in recent years the sheer numbers of mink have overcome the capacity of the industry to deal with it.. now there are millions,  and still no system in place for the industry to handle its own mess.
 
 

Herein lies the problem; we have an industry that is doing a lot of damage to the environment and nobody seems to even be aware of it, let alone acknowledge the problem. How about the leaders of the industry, the old timers, the successful ranchers who can afford the investment to change things?  Is there even one ideally-operated mink ranch that leaves no nasty environmental footprint? Is even one ranch "doing it right"?
In researching the subject I learned of only one local farm that runs its manure through a leach field. This has to change, and change soon, before the complete river system dies.

Excrement must be completely contained and processed through a leach field or other suitable treatment.  We don't allow humans to throw their manure out in open fields to watch it rot and leach away.  It's even more important that we do not allow the effluent from millions of mink to drain into our water system.  Not even a little bit.

Mink ranchers keep a low profile, and they've learned to avoid exposure through the media.  This unwritten policy has enabled many offenders to maintain the status quo, and contributed to worsening conditions on rivers like the Tusket. The damage done is greatly understated: large salmon runs have been gone for years, eel populations are desperately low,  gaspereaux numbers are endangered, and smallmouth bass have replaced brook trout as the  most common sportfish.

It's NOT OK to let our industrial waste pollute our rivers, and our lawmakers, politicians and bureaucrats must immediately acknowledge and remedy this problem. Thousands of people are living  downstream and depending on the Tusket, along with other  local rivers, for the quality of their lifestyle. Taxpayers are worried about property values and parents are worried about their children swimming.

We have a serious problem!
And mink ranchers must stop their unrestricted open drainage into our water systems. 
Every day that we do nothing our river will be dying; and  so will our quality of life.

John Halley Horton

Forest Glen, NS

Email:  halleyhort@hotmail.com (your feedback/suggestions would be appreciated)

 Nova Scotia Water and Wastewater Branch of the NS Dept. Environment has now published  A WATER QUALITY SURVEY  OF NINE LAKES IN THE CARLETON RIVER WATERSHED AREA ...a professionally prepared report, publically available online. Interesting conclusions and recommendations . Click on the link below.
Kudos to Jeanne and Randy Cleveland ,Paul McLaughlin , Debbie and Alan Hall , TREPA etc.
 for long hours of hard ,frustrating , unappreciated  work slogging through this pile of......
Your time and effort is appreciated
However , the general public (spelled  "voters" ) in large measure still isn't  convinced 
 about what is happening to our TUsket RIVER. So  please FORWARD this to any and all interested parties.  Click on the link below.  John H. Horton
 

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http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/water/surfacewater/docs/Yarmouth.Area.Lakes.Report.with.Appendices.pdf

("........NOT CONSIDERED POLLUTION.")- DOE

The following is a response from Bruce Arthur, of the NS Department  of Environment,to Tim Merry of Carleton, who wrote to the Department for information regarding pollution in the Tusket River.
Dear Mr. Merry, 

Thank you for your e-mail dated May 31, 2009. Nova Scotia Environment is aware that there have been occurrences of algae blooms in several lakes within the Carleton River watershed  during recent years. A snapshot type survey of a number of these lakes conducted last year with cooperation of Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture indicated that there may be some  instances of elevated nutrient levels in some lakes. However,  that in itself is not considered“pollution” and there is no clear
indicator of any particular source of the nutrients.
Nova Scotia Environment has been working with TREPA, a local
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), to try to identify any point
sources of nutrients that may exist. That may be part of the reason 
that area residents are checking their septic systems.
Certainly NSE encourages all residents to ensure that their septic 
systems are properly designed and are operating as designed, since 
malfunctioning systems can be a significant source of nutrients. I 
would encourage you to contact TREPA for additional information. 
They also have a copy of the report that was prepared subsequent
to the lake sampling survey.
With respect to allegations that mink farming is the source of these
nutrients, NSE has no direct evidence that this is the case. We have
been working with Department of Agriculture personnel who are
responsible for farming within the Province. NS Agriculture is 
assessing compliance with best practice guidelines, and expect to 
have the field work completed by the end of June.  NS Agriculture 
will share the results with NS Environment in July and develop 
an action plan to deal with non-compliance.
In the meantime, NSE will respond to any known point source of 
effluent or other material that may be contributing to nutrient 
loadings within the watershed.
Regards,

Mr. Arthur makes some incredible  statements here, denying or
minimixing  evidence to the contrary, and I quote :
".........there may be some instances of elevated nutrient levels in 
some lakes. However, that in itself is not considered pollution and 
there is no clear indicator  of any particular source of the
nutrients."
When a public servant makes a definitive conclusion like this ,one 
would  expect that he has done his 'due diligence' and speaks with 
some knowledge of the actual situation. Click on this URL:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/water/surfacewater/docs/Yarmouth.Area.Lakes
.Report.with.Appendices.pdf

The facts are here , and I would ask you to read them. 
To conclude that  "there is no clear indicator of any particular
source of the nutrients " is to deny the facts.  I would ask
Mr. Arthur to accompany me on a tour of the Hilltown mink farms. 
I will gladly take him to a place on a public road where he can 
stand and look some real pollution in the eye. And he can get a 
whiff of the putrid water that flushes out of all the larger mink
ranches into the Tusket river chain. Would this be pollution if it
happened in his own backyard? You bet it would!
Bruce Arthur represents the Department of Environment , and his 
official response to Mr. Merry's letter contains some disappointing
and ill-informed opinions.
As taxpayers, we can express our opinions to the council meeting 
at the Hebron Municipal Building this coming Monday,July 29th, 
at 7:00 pm. At last Tuesday's meeting,local businessman 
John Miller's opinion was appreciated by many locals: 
ie. If we can't even agree on what's causing  pollution of
the Tusket, are we really ready to license more mink ranches 
in Yarmouth county?

John H Horton
Forest Glen
Your comments and opinions would be appreciated.

http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/hansard/han59-1/house_05oct24.htm
RESOLUTION NO. 4758

HON. CHRISTOPHER D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas researchers at the Canadian Centre for Fur Animal Research, at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, have developed a feeding guide to help mink producers plan, manufacture and evaluate diets made from food industry waste and by-products; and

[Page 8764]

Whereas this guide will reduce production costs of feed, which represents the largest variable cost in mink production; and

Whereas last year the mink industry generated in excess of $38 million in export revenue in Nova Scotia;

Therefore be it resolved that this House acknowledge the significant contribution of the mink researchers at NSAC in the area of by-product-based feed manufacturing.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

It is agreed.

Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.

The motion is carried.

Short title
1 This Act may be cited as the Animal Health and Protection Act. R.S., c. 15, s. 1.

Interpretation
2 In this Act,
(a) "animal" means livestock, poultry and any other animal designated by the regulations;
(b) "livestock" means horses, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, rabbits, foxes, chinchilla and mink;
 http://gsa1.gov.ns.ca/search?q=regulations+mink+water+polution

Links to some Tusket protection sites 

Proposed Tusket River Protected Areas
The Tusket River is the major waterway running through Yarmouth County, ... The Tusket River is renown for its rare species of coastal plain flora. ...

To: john horton <halleyhort@hotmail.com>
Subject: FW: Emailing: IMG_0905.JPG, IMG_0907.JPG, IMG_0908.JPG,
 IMG_0909.JPG, IMG_0910.JPG, IMG_0911.JPG, IMG_0912.JPG 
 

"Grandfathered Stinkpipes" and  Grandfathered Industial Waste At the Edge of A Lake ."

A LEGACY FOR OUR CHILDREN : THESE OPERATIONS WILL CONTINUE  WITH NO INTERRUPTION thanks to municipal by laws grand-fathering about 40  known farms  in Clare.

Photo 0908 shows how close to the lake they build 'em in Digby county.The church  in the picture is easily  located on the 340 , and you can  park in the church lot to walk to a 16 inch stink pipe at the back of the farm which has a recently -dug trench leading  the effluent down the hill to a stream..the one that passes under the road and runs south to the Tusket river. The rest of the outflow leaks into Nowlans Lake on the west side of this large factory farm  and enters  the Meteghan River .. Randy Cleveland has excellent quality pics of the runoff pipe.
 Thanks to Brad d'Entrement for his time ,effort, and concern . Nice pics .
 

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Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 09:00:03 -0300
 
 

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Agricultural Marshland Conservation Act
Agriculture Administration Amendment (2004) Act 
http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/legislation/