Composting Facility Turfed

Written by Peter McIntyre Tuesday, 24 November 2009 17:32 107.5 KISSFM

The BC government has scrapped plans for an animal waste composting facility in the North Okanagan. Officials from the Agriculture Ministry have decided not to proceed with facilities in Grindrod, Westwold or Silver Creek, saying none of the applications provided a viable solution. Grindrod resident Karen Dittloff was one of 11-hundred residents who signed a petition against the proposal, citing health and environmental concerns. "Every time we talked to the government about it they said they were just overwhelmed by the public's response in opposition to these compost proposals so it was the people speaking out that made the difference." The residents were concerned using the animal remains as fertilizer on farm land would get into the water system.

Dittloff says the decision is a relief, but perhaps not the end of it. "I asked them if they might be coming back to these communities again and the Ministry of Agriculture rep said if a proponent applies in future, we have to consider their application." A company called Interior Agri Solutions has been given funding to truck the animal waste from the BC Interior, to Alberta for disposal.

Compost Facility Causing Stink

Written by Peter McIntyre Thursday, 27 August 2009 15:20

Hundreds of residents still have questions about a proposed animal waste composting facility in the North Okanagan community of Grindrod.More than 200 people packed a five hour meeting put on by the Agriculture Ministry, concerned the type of composting bags that will be used, will be harmful to public health and the environment.Concerned residents' spokesperson Karen Dittloff says the ministry reps didn't address the issues."A lot of them weren't answered completely or to the satisfaction of the residents so the area residents are very frustrated. They very clearly stated no to this facility and they (ministry) just don't seem to be listening."

Dittloff says the province is looking at composting nine million pounds of animal waste each year, using it as farm fertilizer."This compost is proposed to be spread in Grindrod on either side of the Shuswap River, on rental and owned land. It's very high in E-coli, and we're concerned it will get into the watershed and also people's wells."Land owner Dave Robertson says the facility on Monks Road is legal and won't pollute the Shuswap River.

An 1,100 name petition opposed to the facility has been given to Shuswap MLA George Abbott.There's no word when the province will make a decision.

Compost plan draws crowd

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 27, 2009 6:00 PM

Extreme differences of opinion are driving the debate around a proposed animal waste composting facility in Grindrod. A large crowd jammed into Grindrod Elementary Wednesday to debate the plan for a Monks Road farm.“Our fears about health and the environment are apparent after this meeting,” said Karen Dittloff, spokeswoman for a group of concerned citizens.Dittloff doesn’t believe there was sufficient evidence from government officials that composting is safe, and that monitoring will be sufficient. “They fumbled around. They weren’t even sure of their own regulations,” she said.If the facility is approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, the waste would be collected from slaughterhouses and retail stores, and the compost would be spread on the farm as fertilizer.Some residents claim waterways and adjacent land could be contaminated by waste containing antibiotics. They are also concerned about animal attractants and odours coming from the facility.

Dittloff says the five-hour meeting was poorly handled.“They did allow some people to voice their concerns but there was little time for questions,” she said.However, the applicant for the facility defends the process. “There is a group of people who don’t want to hear anything. The issues were addressed and there will be no pollution,” said Dave Robertson, who owns the farm.“There is no reason to hold the project up. The guys on the government team thought it went well.”Robertson says there were also people present who support the facility and believe it is essential for agricultural operations.“We have to do something with waste. We can’t keep sweeping it out of the province.”

But opinions are so split, that both sides can’t agree on how many people were in attendance.Dittloff insists there were more than 200 people present, but Robertson claims there were between 150 and 160, with many of them from out of town.“There were probably only 50 people from Grindrod that will be affected directly or indirectly,” he said.The Ministry of Agriculture is expected to decide later this year on the future of the proposal, but that may still not be the end of the matter.Opponents to the plant are trying to raise money for legal action.“We are looking at pursuing that if a decision is made for the facility to go ahead. But we hope the government will listen to the residents,” said Dittloff.

Grindrod plan goes before public

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 25, 2009 7:00 PM

Emotions could be raw as a controversial issue goes before Grindrod residents today.The Ministry of Agriculture will hold a public meeting from 7 to 10 p.m. at Grindrod Elementary to discuss a proposed animal waste composting facility on Monks Road.Many residents are opposed, but the proponent insists there is a need for the plant and all efforts are being taken to ensure the integrity of the environment.“They say we will pollute the Shuswap River but we won’t,” said Dave Robertson, who owns the property.“There won’t be leachate from the site.”

Robertson says today’s meeting will be an opportunity for residents to find out more about the proposal and to get information from experts on animal waste composting.“What I’m doing is legal and better than burying them in the ground,” he said.If the facility is approved by the provincial government, the waste would be collected from slaughterhouses and retail stores, and the compost would be spread on the farm as fertilizer. However, some residents claim waterways and adjacent land could be contaminated by waste containing antibiotics. They are also concerned about animal attractants and odours coming from the facility.“This is show-down time,” said Karen Dittloff, spokeswoman for a group of concerned citizens, of the meeting.

But while she expects a large turnout, she is disappointed in the format established by the ministry.“They’re only allowing us 50 minutes to ask questions. Out of three hours, we get 50 minutes,” she said.“It could say that they don’t care what we have to say.”Dittloff says that the Splatsin First Nation is also concerned about the impact of the facility and it’s anticipated band representatives will be at the meeting.A 1,100-name petition opposing the proposal was recently presented to MLA George Abbott.

Petition targets compost facility

Vernon Morning Star Published: August 20, 2009 6:00 PM

That is a journey a petition opposing the proposed animal waste composting facility in Grindrod will take in the hands of Shuswap MLA George Abbott.Some 35 people gathered outside Abbott’s office to give him the petition that outlines concerns about the facility’s location - possible runoff from the site, wild animal attractants and odour.“We don’t believe the compost will be safe,” said area resident and protest leader Mary Ouwendyk, noting residents are told not to put meat into their own compost. “We’re afraid it will get into the water. It could be waste leachate, the medications they took before they died, or any disease they had before they died.”Sorrento organic farmer and brewer Rebecca Kneen says the transmission of disease organisms do need to be dealt with.“But, and it’s a big but, proper composting, that is hot composting, can kill just about every pathogen we know of,” she says.

Well-known environmentalist Dr. Warren Bell says he has received many e-mails on the issue.“The process needs to be transparent, it needs to be community centred, and it needs to be based on sound science,” he says. “It absolutely must not be driven by political priorities alone.”Bell says another requirement is that the process must be kept open-ended so it can be modified.“The pressures leading to this happening are intense but not necessarily sensitive to local concerns,” he adds.Those pressures were brought about by an outbreak of mad cow disease in 2006. B.C. slaughterhouses had to absorb thousands of dollars in pick-up services that take the carcasses to Alberta for incineration.

To address this, the provincial and federal government have been investigating hot composting and incineration as more local and less costly solutions to the disposal issue.Ken Corraini, senior manager of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Program Development and Investment in Victoria, says with mad cow disease, the prions (infectious agents) are located in the brain, ganglia and spinal column of animals older than 30 months and in the ilium of the intestine in younger animals.“This specified risk material (SRM) is removed and sent to Calgary for disposal,” he says, noting the Canadian Food Inspection Agency oversees the process.

Proponents in Grindrod are working with a qualified professional in the composting business, Corraini says.Monitoring of the composting facilities will be up to the Ministry of Environment.“We are trying to help proponents to find a way to satisfy the concerns regarding monitoring,” says Corraini, noting his department continues to find cost-effective incineration solutions as well.“We need to solve both SRM and non-SRM issues and the solution might be we’d have an incinerator to handle SRM and some other method for non-SRM material.”

Residents can learn about the proposed facilities at a meeting to be held Aug. 26 at Grindrod Elementary, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Carcass controversy

Web posted on Friday, 14 August 2009 CHBC VIDEO

A proposal to compost waste meat in large plastic bags has almost an entire Okanagan community in an uproar.

Grindrod Residents to Present Petition to Abbott

Thu, 2009-08-13 15:50. Sofie McGarry, Salmon Arm 91.5 EZ Rock

Karen Dittloff, spokesperson for The Concerned Citizens of Grindrod says their taking their fight right to the doors of their MLA this afternoon (Thursday).'We have an appointment with George Abbott at his office in Salmon Arm, to present the petition that we have been collecting that oppose the Robertson Farm Animal Waste Composting facility in Grindrod.' Dittloff says that there are now over 950 signatures on that petition and hope that they will get a large group to help them present the petition to Abbott this afternoon at 2:30. She says Abbott promised to present their petition and concerns in Victoria but couldn't join them in their opposition, saying it would be inappropriate.

Dittloff says the Raging Grannies have even written a song for the day..."They would like to sing it for everyone that's gathering outside of George Abbott's office before we go into present our petition."

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Compost concerns
Web posted on Monday, 15 June 2009 CHBC VIDEO

A north Okanagan farmer has plans for his land that are raising a stink with his neighbours.

Residents oppose plans to build composting plants

By The Vancouver SunAugust 15, 2009

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."