Dairy farm gets permits

Photo: Facebook - SHAT - Save Hullcar Aquifer Team

Spallumcheen council is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Mayor Janice Brown said council has no choice but to issue building permits to a local dairy farm even though there is concern the operation could be part of the cause of high nitrate levels in drinking water from the Hullcar aquifer.

Dairy farm HS Janson and Sons has submitted two building applications for its property on Knob Road.

While normally adding a couple buildings to a farm in a farming community is not a big deal, but for more than two years people on the Hullcar aquifer in Spallumcheen have been on a water quality advisory due to the high level of nitrates.

There is some indication the nitrates come from liquid manure spread on dairy farms fields, however, Brown said officials are waiting for definitive proof.

The Ministry of Environment said the tests that could prove or dismiss area farms as the cause of the nitrate levels would not be ready until November. Brown told the MOE that is too long a wait and she is hoping for the results this week or next.

In the meantime, council had no choice than to grant the permits.

The concern is the additional buildings will allow for more cattle which in turn will mean more liquid manure being spread on the fields and possibly entering the aquifer increasing the nitrate levels even more.

Brown said lawyers have been consulted and the township has no legal grounds not to issue the building permits.

She said council's job is to make sure the buildings meet the proper codes and building requirements – which they do.

Some members of the public have chastised council for allowing the permits even though there is no choice in the matter, said the mayor.

One of the priorities at the moment is to identify the source of the nitrates.

“If it's not the Janson farm, we need to find out what it is,” she said Tuesday, adding the cause of the nitrates has not been tied to dairy farms as of yet.

Brown went on to say there is some indication the farms are the cause, but no action can be taken until it is proved.

“Everyone we can think of is on it,” she said. “The public outcry is hopefully what will push them into getting an answer sooner rather than later.

“Council has a handle on it and we all need to work together to find a solution. It's new to all of us and we need an expert to give us an expert opinion.

“We need our farmers. We're a farming community, but our residents also need clean drinking water.”