Conservative BC MLA Bruce Banman -- There isn’t enough places to process and clean the contaminated soil, nor are there enough inspectors to catch those dumping
Yesterday, I came across a story in the Vancouver
Sun headlined, “Illegal
dumping increasing on BC farmland” – the story stated that it’s against
the law to dump construction material on land reserved for farming but its
increasingly being used as a cheaper alternative to authorized sites, which can
charge more than $1,000 a load.
Bruce Banman, is an MLA in the area (Conservative
BC – Abbotsford South), so yesterday afternoon I sent him a text asking about
the problem. Here’s what he had to say:
This is a huge problem -- and has been for a while.
Abbotsford does have a few gravel pits near the
airport which after extracting the aggregate, take loads of clean soil which is
tested and recorded; it is all monitored. So far, it seems to be improving
agricultural land.
This system helped lower illegal dumps, but for some reason it has ramped up
again. For a while a few First Nations had dumps for this kind of stuff (and
still do), but they have either filled up, or have stopped.
In the case of the farmer wanting to add clean topsoil, my understanding is the
red tape is horrendous. Keep in mind when they get a chance to add clean soil to
improve farmland it’s often a last-minute thing depending on the site it comes
from. The system doesn’t respond well to last minute very well.
One problem with the Agriculture Land Reserve (ALR)
is what to do with marginal farmland, it could be improved with clean soil. But
the ability to monitor the soil is inadequate.
Bottom line: There isn’t enough places to
process and clean the contaminated soil, nor are there enough inspectors to
catch those dumping.
I am the Kelowna-Mission BC Conservative candidate in the upcoming election, and can attest that this is a huge issue in the Okanagan, as well. Municipal authorities are aware of dumping sites around Kelowna, and within the hills surrounding the valley, that are altering watercourses and drainage of farmable lands. From the vantage point of my farm I can see three agricultural properties violating ALC rules by (a) storing commercial equipment onsite, and (b) dumping fill, concrete, gravel and God knows what else (sometimes in the middle of the night, under cloak of darkness). The one ALC order of which I am aware that ordered fill to be removed was completely disregarded, and this fill (over 200 loads of dirt) remains on that site, permanently altering topography and creating flooding, dust and weeds on my property. This same property has been found by MOE to be leaching commercial waste into agricultural soil, but no government body has ordered this to cease, or for remediation to begin.
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely tiresome for law abiding farmers to constantly jump through regulatory hoops while they witness commercial tenants destroying neighbouring lands with little to no intervention (and presumably making a much more lucrative living than any farmer). I also note that, even when the MOE and the ALC issues warning letters and orders, commercial operations continue with abandon and, unfortunately with little enforcement. Regards, Alexandra (wright4bc.ca)