FORMERLY THE ROCKY VIEW FIVE VILLAGE WEEKLY
Volume 35, Number 27	OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR THE MD OF ROCKY VIEW #44	Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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Province orders feedlot to protect springs
Enrique Massot

A provincial agency has ordered a large feedlot in the MD of Rocky View to stop contaminated runoff from mixing with spring water.

The Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) issued an enforcement order on June 13 to Thorlakson Feedyards Inc., to separate runoff from a spring existing in the feedlot property, no later than Sept. 30.

A neighbour of the feedlot, which is located about three miles east of Airdrie, said the order was long overdue.

"Why did it take so much time?" asked Lori Harnack, who farms just east of the feedlot’s crop fields. "It should not take three years to make somebody comply."

Several neighbours complained to the NRCB in June 2005 about manure-contaminated runoff overflowing catch basins and flowing into fresh water cattle dugouts.

Harnack said mixing spring water with runoff increases the amount of water being spread on the fields, compounding the problem. "The springs are the main problem," she said.

The feedlot disposes of its manure runoff by spreading it on crop fields adjacent to the operation, but Harnack said a waterway collects much of that runoff and as a result the contaminated water leaches into her dugout and a creek.

Harnack said she has been requesting the feedlot to take mitigation measures since 1996, but to no avail.

Milton Scott, the feedlot’s general manager, said the company will comply with the NRCB order.

"We want to be good for the environment," he said.

Scott said complying took time because of regulatory hurdles related to the use of the spring water.

"One of the reasons was, we did not know what to do," he said.

He also said the creek meanders through the feedlot fields for more than four miles before reaching Harnack’s property. That distance, he said, neutralizes contamination.

"The crop will use the phosphorous and the nitrogen, and the E. coli just dissipates out on the land," he said.

Scott also said the spring only lets out 2.5 gallons per minute, which has negligible influence on the runoff.

Jim McKinley, NRCB’s director of compliance and enforcement, said tests revealed 2,100 fecal coliform counts per 100 millilitres near Harnack’s dugout, showing some impact from contaminated runoff.

However, he added, the amount is within acceptable limits for cattle consumption. He said concern would begin at 5,000 fecal coliform counts.

Harnack said a benchmark test analyzed samples from a creek about 1.5 miles northeast of her property in which the count was 450 fecal coliforms per 100 millilitres of water.

The NRCB’s order stated that feedlot representatives had committed to upgrade the facilities to prevent further overflows before the end of 2005.

The feedlot hired an environmental consultant that produced three successive reports in 2006 and 2007. Thorlakson Feedyards took several correcting measures, said Scott.

"Since 2005, we have built a run-on control and we have a dike system so that the water will go around the feedlot and not be contaminated," he added. "We also invested in a new irrigation pump and pipe and the bill on that came to about $55,000. We have also cleaned out and made our lagoons deeper (and) spent approximately $20,000 working with an engineer."

However, the feedlot did not put into practice recommendations to prevent manure-contaminated runoff from flowing off feedlot pens and contaminating spring water.

Manure-contaminated runoff overflowed catch basins again during the recent June rainfall.

Scott said the overflow was caused by an amount of rainfall comparable to that of June 2005.

"Our lagoons did overflow and they did go into the municipal ditch," he said.

Ben Thorlakson, president of the feedlot, said the feedlot kept close contact with NRCB and Alberta Environment during the heavy rains.

"We gave them a full briefing and a tour of our property," he said. "We want to be stewards of the environment."

McKinley said the NRCB has been trying to work with Thorlakson towards voluntary compliance and emphasized the feedlot has already done substantial improvements to contain runoff.

"We prefer not to issue orders," he said.

However, McKinley added, the enforcement order was issued to establish clear timelines and to gauge the feedlot’s progress.

"We are not going to let (the feedlot) go," he said.

The NRCB enforcement order points out that the three reports generated by the consultant hired by Thorlakson consistently identified the spring water being mixed with runoff, and recommended addressing the issue.

Before the issuance of the NRCB order, Scott said the feedlot had plans to separate the spring water from the manure-contaminated runoff.

"We are going to have that developed by the fall," he said. "We are going to just bypass around it."

The feedlot has capacity for 20,000 heads, and has operated since the 1970s.

The NRCB has ordered the feedlot to submit weekly e-mail updates on its progress.

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