ICBC warns teens for prom
44-year-old woman missing
Stanley Cup Playoff etiquette
Senators reject field trip
'City within a city'
Searching landfill for woman
Israeli strike played down
Full Trump jury seated
World's largest election 
Lululemon cuts 100 jobs
Bitcoin's 'halving' arrives
Lawsuit over missing nuts
Warriors ready for Round 2
Kalamalka Bowl cancelled
Rockets live to fight on
Pulp Fiction turns 30
Chris Pratt injured in movie
My name is not Elaine
The province is taking action on tainted water situation in Spallumcheen, by issuing pollution abatement orders to several operations.
Some 200 people on the Hullcar aquifer have been on a water quality notice for more than two years because of high nitrate levels in their drinking water.
A community group, Save Hullcar Aquifer Team, was formed to try to resolve the water woes that have become a political issue.
In Victoria, the opposition NDP have been hammering the ruling Liberals over the situation for months.
The Ministry of Environment has now issued draft pollution abatement orders to several agricultural operations in the Hullcar Valley where, “based on recent inspections and water quality information, there is a reasonable likelihood their operations are contributing to the elevated nitrate levels in Hullcar aquifer.”
The orders, issued May 6 under the Environmental Management Act, require agricultural operators to do several things to better manage manure.
Smaller operators are required to:
- establish proper storage of manure including field storage and appropriate setbacks
- develop functioning on site drainage management to contain any agricultural waste
- establish a buffer area around wellheads, property boundaries and surface water
The draft orders also require poultry operators to:
- report to the ministry how manure is being used
- publicly post all material covered under the order at Hullcar Community Hall
Four larger operators were provided with different draft orders that require more detailed plans including:
- monitoring and an environmental impact assessment
- an action plan showing how the introduction of agricultural waste to the environment will be minimized
- an ongoing monitoring plan for surface water, groundwater and soil samples
- an annual report and ongoing updates to the action plan.
Residents in the Spall region have blamed a large dairy operation's use of effluent on its field for the high nitrate content in the water.
