Tweed – Council will not adopt any measures to control the spreading of sludge on local farmland, even though Reeve Jo-Anne Albert pushed for a moratorium.

The subject was raised in an e-mail to council by Crookston Road residents Gary and Lynda Akey who asked what could be done to prevent the land application of possibly toxic treated waste, especially from Belleville.

The Akeys said they have been notified when sludge is to be spread in their area but neither the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) or Terratec, the company doing the spreading, will tell them the composition of the material.
“The MOE does a soil test prior to the contract being issued, however they do not know where there are sink holes and there are lots of them in this area,” the letter said. “The testing of this poisonous material has never been caught up-to-date as far as testing for hormones and antibiotics. There is absolutely no follow up by either

MOE or Terratec, does that make sense?”

The letter also mentioned the millions of dollars being spent by the province on source water protection and suggested a moratorium on dumping sludge be established until all the measures being put together under the Source Water Protection Act are in place.

Albert told council Tuesday that she has researched the issue and spoken to local farmers and ministry officials about the use of biosolids as fertilizer. It’s a practice some people are for and some are against, she said.

“My recommendation is I really personally believe that these biosolids should not be out on the land,” Albert said. She cited airborne infections and possible contamination of groundwater as the main reasons for her opposition.

She pointed out that municipal control on the use of biosolids is superseded by the provincial authority and, as of January that responsibility will be shared between the ministries of the environment and agriculture, food and rural affairs.

“We have no ability to control the program, but can put a moratorium on spreading our own sludge from our own lagoons,” Albert said. She said the municipality could include a recommendation that other municipalities not spread sludge in Tweed, which might discourage the practice.

Councillor Justin Bray said the practice has been going on for a long time and more research should be done before making a decision, especially as to what Tweed would do with its own biosolids.

“Part of being a responsible environmentalist is saying, ‘we’re not going to do this here’, but also planning what to do with it.”

Albert said a moratorium should be placed spreading sludge on farmland until research proves there are no long-term adverse effects of contamination to aquifers.

Councillor Jim Flieler seconded Albert’s motion.

“I’m a farmer and things cost money and this is free and I do like free things, but not this one,” Flieler said. “We do these things until we find we’ve made a mistake.”

Deputy Reeve Gord Benson said he also had spoken to farmers and ministry officials and was told the practice is not harmful.

“We can ‘t afford to ship sludge from our lagoon to be burned,” Benson said.

Councillor Brian Treanor said he could see pros and cons in the spreading of biosolids, but he, too, would like more information.

Albert said she would rather err on the side of caution and Flieler said he thinks council should put pressure on both the federal and provincial governments to “put a fix on this”.

“This thing isn’t dead in the water we, just have to pressure the government to fix it until there’s further research into the effects of those materials,” Flieler said.

When the motion to establish a moratorium was defeated, Albert said, “I knew that was going to happen.”