HEALTH FEARS MOUNT OVER INDUSTRIAL HOG FARMS
This report may have implications for sewage sludge land application - since the
ammonia and pathogen issues are similar.
Maureen Reilly
*************************
HEALTH FEARS MOUNT OVER INDUSTRIAL HOG FARMS:
RESPIRATORY AILMENTSDOCUMENTED IN FEDERAL REPORTS
March 19, 2002
The Edmonton Journal
A1 / Front
Tom Spears
While the Canadian federal government promotes only "good news" stories about giant
hog farms, its own investigations show, according to internal government documents
cited in this story, that the industrial-scale farms are causing air and water
pollution and posing a significant health hazard to people working in them.
The story says that the documents show the huge operations have saturated soils and
streams with chemicals from manure, and concentrated manure fumes cause asthma, bronchitis, depression and other health troubles in farmers.
The documents also say that Agriculture Canada says its role is to promote factory
farms and to do research supporting them, but not to regulate them. It hopes for
environmental improvements such as manure composting, but says they are currently too
expensive for farmers to use.
The story says that the 590 pages released under an Access to Information request
paint a picture of an uneasy change from traditional farms with a few hundred pigs to
"intensive livestock operations."
These large hog farms, with batches of 5,000 or more pigs, all the same age, in a
single barn are in southern Alberta, southern Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick and,
increasingly, in southern Ontario. Agriculture Canada says the industry is having
nly limited success inits struggle to overcome the environmental and health problems.
Yes, it can compost manure. It can breed genetically modified pigs that
produce cleaner manure. It can build sewage treatment plants for farms, or artificial
marshes to soak up manure.
The trouble is, farmers can't afford these high-tech solutions. And, the story says,
pollution from the pork industry is already serious:
--- Where farmland lies close to cities, ammonia fumes from pig urine and manure
combine with industrial air pollutants and car exhaust to make dangerous acidic
compounds.
--- The bad smell isn't just unpleasant. "There is new evidence ... that the
substances that give rise to odours can also affect human health,
causing nausea, headaches, sleep disturbances, upset stomach, loss of appetite and
depression."
--- Phosphorus, one of the main chemicals in manure, is a fertilizer but also a
pollutant. The problem is that plants can only soak up about half the phosphorus
spread by many hog operations.
--- Even following good farming practices can pollute waterways. David Schindler of
the University of Alberta, Canada's best-known water
pollution expert, was quoted as saying that Walkerton's E. coli outbreak came from
cattle manure on a farm field, "but the thing that's
interesting is it was manured exactly according to agricultural specifications. That
ought to set off a bit of a warning bell. If these were humans that were crapping
all over the landscape, the whole population would be up in arms.
With the same pathogens and the same nutrients coming out of hogs and cattle, why are
we tolerating them?"
The story says that Agriculture Canada's answer to these issues was that it launched
a multi-year plan in 1997 to fund a wide range of research efforts -- but in the
meantime told the public only the "good news stories."
Over and over the documents stress that the federal government is spending $1.3
million "to encourage environmentally sound practices in the livestock sector," and
$10 million more over four years "to fund projects addressing national environmental
priorities."
The documents were written between 1997 and 2000. None of these concerns appear in
the communications strategy for the public. Its objective is "to reduce public
resistance to hog operations by education and by showing that the economic benefits
of a thriving pork industry can be achieved without compromising the environment or
rural quality of life." It calls for reducing the number of "negative news
stories."
ammonia and pathogen issues are similar.
Maureen Reilly
*************************
HEALTH FEARS MOUNT OVER INDUSTRIAL HOG FARMS:
RESPIRATORY AILMENTSDOCUMENTED IN FEDERAL REPORTS
March 19, 2002
The Edmonton Journal
A1 / Front
Tom Spears
While the Canadian federal government promotes only "good news" stories about giant
hog farms, its own investigations show, according to internal government documents
cited in this story, that the industrial-scale farms are causing air and water
pollution and posing a significant health hazard to people working in them.
The story says that the documents show the huge operations have saturated soils and
streams with chemicals from manure, and concentrated manure fumes cause asthma, bronchitis, depression and other health troubles in farmers.
The documents also say that Agriculture Canada says its role is to promote factory
farms and to do research supporting them, but not to regulate them. It hopes for
environmental improvements such as manure composting, but says they are currently too
expensive for farmers to use.
The story says that the 590 pages released under an Access to Information request
paint a picture of an uneasy change from traditional farms with a few hundred pigs to
"intensive livestock operations."
These large hog farms, with batches of 5,000 or more pigs, all the same age, in a
single barn are in southern Alberta, southern Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick and,
increasingly, in southern Ontario. Agriculture Canada says the industry is having
nly limited success inits struggle to overcome the environmental and health problems.
Yes, it can compost manure. It can breed genetically modified pigs that
produce cleaner manure. It can build sewage treatment plants for farms, or artificial
marshes to soak up manure.
The trouble is, farmers can't afford these high-tech solutions. And, the story says,
pollution from the pork industry is already serious:
--- Where farmland lies close to cities, ammonia fumes from pig urine and manure
combine with industrial air pollutants and car exhaust to make dangerous acidic
compounds.
--- The bad smell isn't just unpleasant. "There is new evidence ... that the
substances that give rise to odours can also affect human health,
causing nausea, headaches, sleep disturbances, upset stomach, loss of appetite and
depression."
--- Phosphorus, one of the main chemicals in manure, is a fertilizer but also a
pollutant. The problem is that plants can only soak up about half the phosphorus
spread by many hog operations.
--- Even following good farming practices can pollute waterways. David Schindler of
the University of Alberta, Canada's best-known water
pollution expert, was quoted as saying that Walkerton's E. coli outbreak came from
cattle manure on a farm field, "but the thing that's
interesting is it was manured exactly according to agricultural specifications. That
ought to set off a bit of a warning bell. If these were humans that were crapping
all over the landscape, the whole population would be up in arms.
With the same pathogens and the same nutrients coming out of hogs and cattle, why are
we tolerating them?"
The story says that Agriculture Canada's answer to these issues was that it launched
a multi-year plan in 1997 to fund a wide range of research efforts -- but in the
meantime told the public only the "good news stories."
Over and over the documents stress that the federal government is spending $1.3
million "to encourage environmentally sound practices in the livestock sector," and
$10 million more over four years "to fund projects addressing national environmental
priorities."
The documents were written between 1997 and 2000. None of these concerns appear in
the communications strategy for the public. Its objective is "to reduce public
resistance to hog operations by education and by showing that the economic benefits
of a thriving pork industry can be achieved without compromising the environment or
rural quality of life." It calls for reducing the number of "negative news
stories."
posted by Sludge at 7:49 AM
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