Temiskaming Speaker
Wednesday, January 9, 2002
 
Temiskaming ag industry at risk: NY prof
 
by Diane Johnston
Speaker Reporter
 
KIRKLAND LAKE
 
Temiskaming's farm sector is at risk if a proposed Kirkland Lake incinerator to treat contaminated waste proceeds, warns a New York university professor.
 
"The threat to agriculture does not have to be real. It only has to be perceived," said Paul Connett, a chemistry professor at St. Lawrence University in New York who has researched waste management issues for the past 14 years.
 
Mr. Connett said a single gram of dioxin contaminating Belgian pork in 2000 is estimated to have caused $3 billion in damage to the country's agriculture system.
 
A similar incident in Canada would have national repercussions, because Canada became the world's leading pork producer last year, commented Thornloe farmer Matt Duke.
 
Mr. Connett said sales of Temiskaming farm produce could dry up, if buyers learn it came from a region home to an incinerator burning waste contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
 
IMAGE
 
"That's the image, and image is everything. Image is everything when it comes to tourism. Image is everything when it comes to agriculture," he said January 5 at an information session in Kirkland Lake hosted by the Temiskaming Federation of Agriculture. (See related story.)
 
Dr. Connett and fellow panelist Neil Carmen, a former air emissions inspector from Texas now working for the Sierra Club, were brought to the meeting by Public Concern Temiskaming.
 
The group opposes a plan by Bennett Environmental Inc. (BEl) to construct a two-stage incinerator that would treat solid materials contaminated by PCBs as well as wood preservatives, coal tar, and creosote.
 
But the threat to food production is also real, Mr. Connett said.
 
The largest single source of human exposure to dioxins - toxic substances produced by the combustion of chlorine-containing materials such as PCBs - is through th food chain, he said.
 
Exposure to dioxins through food, such as beef, dairy products, chicken and pork, dwarfs that of inhalation, he said.
 
He told the crowd of more than 125 that an agricultural region is the last area that should be considered for an incinerator.
 
"You want development. You want clean development,” he said.
 
"What this represents is the end of economic development in this community."
 
Robert Willes, chairman of consultants Cantox Environmental, agreed that food is the chief route of human exposure to contaminants.
 
But he described furans and dioxins as "ubiquitous" in the environment, coming from a variety of sources.
 
The BEI facility will not add significantly to existing levels, while removing some of the substances that have contributed to them, he said.
 
CONCERNS
 
But the Temiskaming Federation of Agriculture has raised concerns over some study findings on the project’s agricultural impact.
 
Federation president John Vanthof, an Evanturel dairy fammer, said the study "seemed more like an economic evaluation of agriculture instead of a biological risk assessment study.
 
He singled out the field data collection in particular.
 
"We question the validity of doing road side reconnaissance of cropping practices in early November in Northern Ontario, especially in November 2000,” he said.
 
After reviewing the documentation, he said it's also unclear "where, when, how or if actual site specific samples" of existing levels of contaminants in animal tissues, soils and plants were taken.
 
He found the lack of baseline data is puzzling and disturbing.
 
As a farmer, he said he knows the importance of understanding existing conditions before planning any project.
 
"You have to know what you've got:' he said.
 
 The federation has deemed BEI's conclusions about the impact on agriculture suspect "mainly because they are not verifiable."
 
"I'm a little surprised by their response:' said Danny Ponn, BEI's vice-president and chief operating officer.
 
"They were involved in drafting that study," he said after the daylong session wrapped up.
 
"They could have come to us and talked to us."
 
He said the company will do "heavy duty" sampling to determine existing levels of contaminants in a variety of sectors if the project receives environmental assessment approval.
 
But if it's turned down, he said further - and costly -  testing would not be warranted.
 
The extent of the region to be sampled remains undetermined.
 
Based on the company's air modelling studies, he said he does not envision sampling soil as far south as New Liskeard.
 
Asked just how far south baseline testing would be conducted, he said, "I can't say right now."
 
BASELINE TESTING
 
Baseline testing was not done prior to the start-up of BEI's plant in St. Ambroise, Quebec, because it was not required by provincial regulations, Mr. Ponn said.
 
"I have to admit that was an oversight on our part,” he said on the weekend. “We’ve learned our lesson.”
 
The lessons of the January 5 session were "very interesting,” said Mr. Willes of Cantox.
 
He concluded the biggest weakness in the assessment of the project's risks has been the lack of complete local baseline data.
 
Mr. Vanthof was pleased to see the emphasis on background testing.
 
" At the start of the dav " no was talking baseline,"he said.
 
But by day’s end, he said everyone was discussing it.
 
The federation considers the January 5 session part of the environmental assessment act's public consultation process.
 
A tape of the meeting as well as official minutes Will be forwarded to BEI and the Ontario Ministry  of the Environment as part of the federation 's environmental  assessment submission on the project.