Proposals to build composting plants in B.C. to deal with cow-tissue waste from slaughterhouses and butcher shops are running into local opposition due to fear of mad cow disease. Residents of three small North Okanagan towns -- Grindrod, Westwold and Silver Creek -- are organizing against plans to build cow-tissue composting plants in their communities."The community here is small but it's also home," Westwold resident Harvey Sampietro said. "If something goes wrong, who's going to be liable?"The plants are being pitched as "local solutions" to the problem of what to do with waste cow tissue under new regulations to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.
B.C. has been trucking its cattle waste to Alberta, where it's rendered or incinerated, since 2007 when the province introduced regulations around "specified risk materials" -- such as cow brains, eyes and spinal columns -- to prevent their use in animal feed, pet food and fertilizer.But shipping costs to Alberta are high, and the B.C. and federal governments are hoping much of the slaughterhouse waste can be handled closer to home.The three composting plant proposals -- each pitched by a different proponent -- were put together under a $7.5-million Canada-B.C. "specified risk material management" or SRM program to help the B.C. cattle industry adapt to the new rules.Some of B.C.'s 85 slaughterhouses already have funding under the program to upgrade their plants.
"We certainly see the need for solutions to dealing with the problems of slaughterhouse waste," said Ken Corraini, chairman of the SRM committee for the B.C. agriculture ministry. "You used to be able to render it and sell it for good money. Now instead of a cash flow, it's a great expense." The three proponents want to compost animal tissue waste from slaughterhouses and butcher shops and use the compost on agricultural land. Under provincial guidelines, the waste would exclude "specified risk material" such as the brain, which could potentially carry prions -- infectious agents in protein linked to mad cow disease.Risky materials must be separated at the slaughterhouse and be kept in cold storage before being shipped to Alberta, Corraini said. This process is monitored by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.But residents argue there's always a possibility some of the risky material could make its way into one of the composting plants. They also claim the plants would stink up neighbourhoods, affect watersheds and devalue their property.
"It's a huge concern for us," said Westwold resident Sandra Pringle. "I'm sure odour will be an issue, but the major thing about this is our health."Corraini said the threat of mad cow disease is fairly low but can't be completely dismissed "because it's a human process."Robertson's Farms, the proponent of the Grindrod plant, already collects tissue waste for short-term storage and transports it to a Calgary incinerator at a cost of eight to 12 cents a pound.Owner Dave Robertson is proposing a $1.2-million compost facility on 400 hectares of agricultural land near Lambert Creek. It would use an enclosed composting system, while the other two would be open-air processes.
Robertson said the plant would cut costs by half for slaughterhouses shipping waste to Alberta. "This could be a state-of-the art facility. The technology is proven," he said."It'll be a shame if Grindrod loses out on this."But 900 Grindrod residents have signed a petition against the plan, said Karen Dittloff. "We're very, very concerned because there's a creek that runs along the site," she said.
In Westwold, about 47 people live within a mile of the proposed plant, Sampietro said. They rely on well water they fear could be contaminated, especially since the area is flood-prone. A public meeting is scheduled in Westwold on Aug. 27. "We are all in agreement that something needs to be done but not in a community, not near water where people's wells are 30 to 50 feet deep," said Westwold resident Jayne Aulis. Silver Creek resident Doug Wrench suggests the government should test the composting in rural areas rather than in or near towns.But Corraini said nobody has shown interest in plants in remote areas. "No one has come forward with one at the end of a long road somewhere," he said.He said the proposals are still in the environmental assessment stage, which will consider all the issues."It's a process. There's a need that has to be balanced against the real risk. That's how the decision is going to have to be made down the road."
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