Manitoba: "PERMANENT" Hog Moratorium to end in mi

[Oscar]

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

“PERMANENT” HOG MORATORIUM TO END IN MID-JULY, GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT REVEALS

March 10, 2008

The regional moratorium on further hog production expansion announced last week by Conservation Minister Stan Struthers, and widely reported to be “permanent,” will come to an end on July 15 this year, a government document shows.

The document outlines the government’s proposed changes to its Livestock regulation. These changes would suspend the issuing of provincial permits for manure storages and confined livestock areas for pigs from the date the regulation change “…comes into force until July 15, 2008.”

This “pig pause” will apply to the region known as “hog alley” as well as to the Interlake and the Red River Valley Special Management Area.

“Minister Struthers gave the public the impression that a long-term moratorium was needed in these areas to protect Lake Winnipeg. How can this be achieved when the moratorium will expire this July?” asked Alan Baron, Co-chair of Citizens for the Responsible Application of Phosphorus.

Baron noted that, when announcing the regional moratorium, Minister Struthers had also promised a “new framework” to guide further hog expansion in the province.

“This promised framework must include a drastic reduction in the amount of phosphorus that can legally be applied or allowed to build up in soils,” Baron said. “Otherwise, the nutrient pollution problem created by this industry cannot be solved, either for existing or future operations, regardless of where they are located or whether or not a moratorium is in place.”

Baron stated that, “The Clean Environment Commission (CEC) recognizes that the simplest and most effective approach is to limit nutrient application to only the amount required by a crop and to balance on-farm nutrient budgets.”

The current regulation allows for soil phosphorous build-up in excess of 36 times the amount that Manitoba crops require on average each year. Neither the Minister nor the CEC has called for an immediate change to the amount of phosphorous that can be applied to the land by hog producers.

“A province-wide moratorium preventing hog industry expansion is necessary until the government takes action to regulate phosphorous in this way,” Baron added.

Public comment on the proposed changes will be accepted until March 18, 2008. Approval and registration of the changes, which makes the moratorium legally enforceable, will occur sometime later. The province-wide moratorium on hog expansion, imposed during the CEC hog industry review, was lifted on February 29.

For more information contact:

Alan Baron (204) 834-3274
Lindy Clubb (204) 475-9608

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MANITOBA CONSERVATION PUBLIC CONSULTATION DRAFT PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO

The Livestock Manure and Mortalities Management Regulation under The Environment Act

Proposed new section 16.4:

Application
16.4(1) This section applies to manure storage facilities and confined livestock areas in respect of pigs that are located or are proposed to be located in

(a) the Red River Valley Special Management Area;

(b) the following areas described in the Planning Districts Regulation, Manitoba Regulation 249/2006:

(i) the Eastern Interlake Planning District,
(ii) the Fisher Armstrong Planning District,
(iii) the South Interlake Planning District,
(iv) the Western Interlake Planning District;

(c) the following areas:

(i) the Rural Municipality of De Salaberry and the Village of St. Pierre-Jolys,
(ii) the Rural Municipality of Grahamdale,
(iii) the Rural Municipality of Hanover, the Town of Niverville and the City of Steinbach,
(iv) the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie,
(v) the Rural Municipality of Springfield,
(vi) the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews and the Village of Dunnottar,
(vii) the Rural Municipality of St. Clements,
(viii) the Rural Municipality of Ste. Anne and the Town of Ste. Anne,
(ix) the Rural Municipality of Tache,
(x) the Rural Municipality of Woodlands,
(xi) the designated community of Dallas/Red Rose as described in Schedule C of the Community Designation, Boundaries and Elections Schedule Regulation, Manitoba Regulation 161/95.

Authority to issue permits for pig manure storage facilities temporarily suspended

16.4(2) The director's authority to issue permits for manure storage facilities in respect of pigs under subsection 6(4) is suspended from the day this section comes into force until July 15, 2008.

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See also:

The Public Interest Law Centre's Contribution to the Review

http://publicinterestlawcentre.ca/Writt ... %20CEC.pdf