Concerned Citizens for our Community Environments Inc. (CCCE) has filed a legal challenge against the Township of Stone Mills regarding the proposed Intensive Hog Operation in Erinsville.
Since Stone Mills Council has consistently refused to properly consider public health and safety, CCCE has little choice but to take legal action. Therefore, CCCE has asked for a court order to overturn Council’s May 19, 2020 decision to approve the Site Plan Control Application for the development of an Intensive Livestock Operation behind the hamlet of Erinsville.
Stone Mills Township failed to address extensive recommendations from Quinte Conservation and their own consulting firm as well as independent experts. In addition, a correct Nutrient Management Plan – with a full contingency plan for potential environmental damage – remains outstanding.
‘’This kind of industrial development should not be approved in this highly sensitive location. Our water supplies and lakes must be protected. The risk to the community’s health and safety is simply too great,” said CCCE director, Susan Moore
CCCE has spent four months investigating serious concerns about this project – with little response from the Township.
CCCE director, Mark Oliver said “Our commitment is to stop this ill-advised agro-industrial development from establishing in this highly sensitive area. Someone has to protect the rights and safety of our community, so that present and future generations see Stone Mills as a healthy, viable place to live.”
BACKGROUND
On May 19, 2020, the Township of Stone Mills made a decision to approve the Site Plan Control Application for an Intensive Livestock Operation in Erinsville, Ontario. No public input was sought, even though an application by the same applicant on the same property was a highly contentious issue in 2001.
By approving the application, Council gave Slack Family Farms Inc., a green light on plans to construct an intensive hog operation for 600 sows and 600 weaner pigs on a property on Waddell Road. The proposed livestock factory is immediately behind the church, school and homes in the hamlet of Erinsville, and close to the shores of Beaver and White Lakes.
Citizens investigated the site plan documents and found numerous discrepancies, such as incomplete elements in the Nutrient Management Strategy (that regulates manure management and spreading on fields) and problems with the hydrogeology work. The community was very concerned about the risk to community health and safety, residential water supplies, and pollution of Beaver and White Lakes and the Salmon River.
Despite outcry from citizens: on June 18, 2020, Stone Mills Township issued the building permit for the intensive hog operation.
In response, citizens reestablished the group, Concerned Citizens for our Community Environments (CCCE), which was active in battling the 2001 Mark Slack hog proposal in Erinsville.
At the Sept. 8, 2020 Stone Mills Council meeting, CCCE asked Council to revoke their May 19, 2020 decision to approve the Site Plan Control Application for an intensive hog factory, because Council’s decision was based on incomplete and incorrect information.
CCCE presented new evidence from an expert in Nutrient Management that clearly demonstrated Council made their decision to approve the Site Plan Control Application on the basis of incorrect and incomplete information. CCCE also presented an opinion from their legal counsel Eric Gillespie that Stone Mills Council was not obligated to approve the project and that they had a responsibility to consider public health and safety in their decision.
Council refused to revoke their decision and also voted against asking the Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs for clarification on apparently erroneous information in the Nutrient Management Strategy, which supports the Site Plan Control Application. The take-away is this: the majority of council members (including the Reeve) chose not to verify the facts on which they had based their decision to approve the intensive hog factory.
For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/STOPErinsvilleHogFactory/ or email: susan@moorepartners.ca
Submitted by CCCE
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