Photo: RDCK meeting screenshot

Area H director Hans Cunningham (right) speaks on his motion to not accept culled ostriches at the RDCK landfill.

A defeated motion to seek a legal opinion on whether the regional district has the authority to refuse a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) order to bury nearly 400 infected ostrich carcasses from an Edgewood farm could still have some life.

Although the May 14 Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) joint resource recovery committee meeting introduced and defeated the motion — one day after a federal court judge upheld CFIA’s order to cull the birds — it could pass later today in an RDCK board of directors meeting.

Area H director Hans Cunningham put forth the motion asking the RDCK to communicate with CFIA to request reconsideration on behalf of the vast majority of residents — later changed to “a large number” — of the regional district regarding the culling of the ostriches, and that copies be sent to the region’s MP, MLA and the office of prime minister.

“This is an action we are taking on behalf of our residents,” he said. “I think the majority of us have our hearts in the places where we don’t want to see these ostriches put down. In fact, the only way to do that is to get the CFIA to change their mind, and the only way to do that is maybe through the … other orders of government.”

Area D director Aimee Watson said the decision should be an operational issue, not a political issue. The issue had been in court twice and to ask for them to reconsider this again was not wise.

“It is on us if the animals were diseased,” she said.

RDCK general manager of environmental services echoed that sentiment.

“We lack as staff to ability to judge if these animals need to be put down or not,” he said.

Watson said passing the motion would put the regional district into a higher liability range.

“If we said we are simply not accepting them and we are seeking legal opinion, then staff has backing and we stuck to our lane,” she said.

The motion was defeated.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) said it had received an operational certificate from the provincial Environment Ministry for its landfill in Castlegar to handle the disposal of “avian influenza-infected waste,” if the culling of nearly 400 ostriches from Universal Ostrich Farms near Edgewood occurs.

However, a community group identifying themselves as the Kootenay Tribe had asked the RDCK to reject the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) plan to dispose of the ostriches in the Ootischenia Landfill, following the CFIA’s clearance Tuesday to cull birds from the Edgewood farm.

The carcasses would be classified as hazardous waste if disposed of, and there is no prior environmental impact assessment, the Tribe contended.

“Risks include groundwater contamination from inadequate leachate management and hazardous gas emissions (methane, ammonia), as the landfill may lack capacity to handle such waste,” it read.

According to The Canadian Press, RDCK communications coordinator Dan Elliott said they received the landfill certificate to possibly handle the dead ostriches in January, adding the district has not received any information on when a possible cull would happen.

“In response to the need to manage avian influenza disease, the Regional District of Central Kootenay has received an operational certificate from the provincial Ministry of Environment and Parks to handle the disposal of the avian influenza infected waste if the culling of the ostriches goes ahead,” Elliott said.