Biosolids spread on farm fields near Lone Pine Marsh
June 19, 2002
Biosolids spread on farm fields near Lone Pine Marsh
by TOM PHILP
The Independent
Biosolids continue to be spread legally in Cramahe Township, even though some local residents believe some of the sewage sludge could leach into a nearby wetland.
Azurix-Terratec Environmental has applied biosolids at Lot 29, Concession 5, Cramahe, on farmland abutting the Lone Pine Marsh, a Class 1 Wetland. The property is farmed by the Benedetti family of Castleton, who received a Certificate of Approval from the Peterborough office of Ontario's Ministry of Environment (MOE) to apply sludge near the marsh.
"Drainage and runoff conditions are considered by MOE officers (when reviewing applications to apply biosolids), said Mark Janiec, a spokesman for Azurix.
Janiec said he checked with his company's Lands Application Manager, Darilyn Vanclief, and determined Azurix employees applied biosolids properly on the Benedetti property.
Minimum distance setbacks were followed, and the sludge was worked into the soil shortly after application, he said.
Janiec said Vanclief was "not even aware" that a wetland existed near the application area.
"As you know, we've been under a microscope lately, so we are very careful to follow all the rules closely," he said.
Janiec, who worked as a program officer with Ontario's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs before joining Azurix, said he had no concerns about any material that might find its way from the Benedetti fields to the Lone Pine Marsh.
"There are a number of wetland demonstration projects used to clean up water," he said. "Wetlands are nature's kidneys, filtering out things that enter the marsh."
The Benedetti property slopes steeply towards Lone Pine, and heavy rainfall could result in contaminants washing into the sanctuary, say some residents of neighbouring Alnwick-Haldimand Township.
Grafton resident John DeLaCour, who is a member of Friends of The Lone Pine Marsh, has written to Northumberland MPP Dr. Doug Galt to complain about Ministry policies that allow spreading to occur so close to protected lands.
In a report appearing Monday in Walter Luedtke's Alnwick-Haldimand newsletter, Grafton Horticultural Society president John Liptay calls the situation "tragic."
"Some unthinking persons have blindly sowed seeds of harm to the Lone Pine Marsh," Liptay states. "It grieves me that these 'deathosolids' have been dumped next to such a special place."
Liptay is encouraging members of Horticultural Societies to join in a letter-writing campaign to Galt, the Municipalities of Cramahe and Alnwick-Haldimand, and Bruce Hancock, Manager of the Peterborough MOE office.
Contacted at his Castleton home, Mario Benedetti is not worried about sludge being applied to his lands. The process was accepted by the MOE, and Azurix "has kept back the legal required distance," he said.
"I don't know what (the concerned neighbours) problem is," Benedetti said. "It looks to me like they're trying to put up a stink about nothing."
Biosolids spread on farm fields near Lone Pine Marsh
by TOM PHILP
The Independent
Biosolids continue to be spread legally in Cramahe Township, even though some local residents believe some of the sewage sludge could leach into a nearby wetland.
Azurix-Terratec Environmental has applied biosolids at Lot 29, Concession 5, Cramahe, on farmland abutting the Lone Pine Marsh, a Class 1 Wetland. The property is farmed by the Benedetti family of Castleton, who received a Certificate of Approval from the Peterborough office of Ontario's Ministry of Environment (MOE) to apply sludge near the marsh.
"Drainage and runoff conditions are considered by MOE officers (when reviewing applications to apply biosolids), said Mark Janiec, a spokesman for Azurix.
Janiec said he checked with his company's Lands Application Manager, Darilyn Vanclief, and determined Azurix employees applied biosolids properly on the Benedetti property.
Minimum distance setbacks were followed, and the sludge was worked into the soil shortly after application, he said.
Janiec said Vanclief was "not even aware" that a wetland existed near the application area.
"As you know, we've been under a microscope lately, so we are very careful to follow all the rules closely," he said.
Janiec, who worked as a program officer with Ontario's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs before joining Azurix, said he had no concerns about any material that might find its way from the Benedetti fields to the Lone Pine Marsh.
"There are a number of wetland demonstration projects used to clean up water," he said. "Wetlands are nature's kidneys, filtering out things that enter the marsh."
The Benedetti property slopes steeply towards Lone Pine, and heavy rainfall could result in contaminants washing into the sanctuary, say some residents of neighbouring Alnwick-Haldimand Township.
Grafton resident John DeLaCour, who is a member of Friends of The Lone Pine Marsh, has written to Northumberland MPP Dr. Doug Galt to complain about Ministry policies that allow spreading to occur so close to protected lands.
In a report appearing Monday in Walter Luedtke's Alnwick-Haldimand newsletter, Grafton Horticultural Society president John Liptay calls the situation "tragic."
"Some unthinking persons have blindly sowed seeds of harm to the Lone Pine Marsh," Liptay states. "It grieves me that these 'deathosolids' have been dumped next to such a special place."
Liptay is encouraging members of Horticultural Societies to join in a letter-writing campaign to Galt, the Municipalities of Cramahe and Alnwick-Haldimand, and Bruce Hancock, Manager of the Peterborough MOE office.
Contacted at his Castleton home, Mario Benedetti is not worried about sludge being applied to his lands. The process was accepted by the MOE, and Azurix "has kept back the legal required distance," he said.
"I don't know what (the concerned neighbours) problem is," Benedetti said. "It looks to me like they're trying to put up a stink about nothing."
posted by Sludge at 6:27 AM
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