By Tina Comeau
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
The provincial government has finally released draft regulations aimed at strengthening the rules surrounding the fur farming industry in this province and it is seeking the public’s input on the draft regulations
The government announced on Thursday that the draft regulations are available for public comment. It is also consulting with key industry groups and other stakeholders, like environmental groups, for their input. That consultation is taking place next week.
"These draft regulations will help the mink industry to grow while ensuring good environmental stewardship," said Agriculture Minister John MacDonell in a July 14 news release. "While we understand there are concerns associated with mink ranching, we are committed to the sustainable development of this sector."
The government hopes to have the regulations in place this fall.
Asked how long the consultation process will be open to receive public input, government spokesperson Celeste Sulliman says the N.S. Department of Agriculture (NSDA) is trying to balance the expressed urgency of having the regulations in place, with giving people ample time for input. The government has selected Aug. 19 as the closing date for public comments.
"A number of citizens, property owners and groups in the Yarmouth area have expressed a strong desire for government to have regulations in place as early as possible," she said. "NSDA is balancing this expressed urgency with providing an opportunity for public comment and input and our need to create solid regulations."
After the timeframe for public input has closed, the comments will be reviewed, if needed changes will be made to strenghten the regulations, and the government will move forward with the process of moving the regulations through the Registry of Regulations process.
The public has been waiting a long time for the draft regulations. A year ago the Department of Agriculture introduced the Act for Development and Management of the Nova Scotia Fur Industry. At the time it said the act is designed to place more responsibility on ranchers by ensuring their operations take into account the effect on their neighbours and the environment. It requires fur ranchers to obtain a site approval permit before getting their operating licence.
But while the act was introduced last year, the regulations that would govern it were still a work in progress.
The draft regulations that have now been released focus on areas of storage and disposal of manure, waste feed and carcasses. The draft regulations state there is to be no discharge of contaminants from a farm property to a watercourse. (See below for sections of the regulations that pertain to manure collection, storage and disposal.)
Many residents of Yarmouth County and local environmental groups have long maintained that waste and runoff from mink farms is the cause of blue-green algae blooms that have plagued lakes in the county. Blue green algae is naturally occurring but excess nutrients in the water, such as phosphorus, makes it worse. Although a 2010 report entitled Water Quality Survey of Ten Lakes Located in the Carleton River Watershed pointed to mink farms as the most probable cause of nutrients, both the departments of Agriculture and Environment have not pinpointed mink farms as the sole cause behind the increased presence of nutrients in the water.
Still, in the past the province has said that land inspections, more water quality testing and the implementation of new regulations are some of the actions it has been taking to address the issue of water quality, particularly in the Carleton River Watershed.
In drafting regulations that will be applied to the fur farm industry, the Department of Agriculture says department staff conducted extensive research about the structures and physical land features of typical fur farms, as well as the waste produced and how it is handled. Legislative and regulatory frameworks from other jurisdictions such as Denmark, were also examined. Nova Scotia Environment was also part of the regulatory development team and according to the province, offered significant advice and guidance in developing the fur regulations.
The draft regulations are available at http://gov.ns.ca/agri/.
Nova Scotians are invited to provide input by e-mail to minkregs@gov.ns.ca .
Consultations with industry and a select group of stakeholders will take place July 19 and 20. Debbie Boudreau, a member of the Tri-County Watershed Protection Association – a group that has been very vocal over the lack of industry regulations – said her group is being given the opportunity to provide its input on the draft regulations on Tuesday.
Consultations with people who have been identified by the agriculture department as having an interest in the development of the fur farming regulations will be held in the afternoon and evening on July 19. Some of these groups have also submitted comments to the department about mink farming since the introduction of the Fur Farming Act.
Other groups that will be represented during the consultations include TREPA, the Clean Annapolis River Project and various municipal councillors, planners and CAOs from Yarmouth, Barrington and Clare.
On Wednesday, July 20, the department will meet with the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association in Weymouth for its input on the draft regulations.
The fur industry is an export industry worth about $100 million to the provincial economy. There are about 150 registered mink farmers in Nova Scotia.
The province says that under the Fur Industry Act, failure to comply with the regulations may result in a licence suspension or revocation, levying of fines, or seizure of mink. The Act authorizes the Minister of Agriculture to carry out remedial actions and invoice the operator.
There is a three-year grandfathering period for existing farms to come in compliance with the new regulations – something that concerns critics.
However, the three-year clause is only applicable to farms that maintain their status quo operations. If a farm undergoes any significant changes, such as new construction of expansion, they would have to adhere at that point to the requirement of a new management plan.
The draft regulations speak to manure storage, collection and disposal. Here are some sections from the draft regulations:
Manure Collection, Storage and Disposal
As part of the management plan, the operator is required to have a collection, storage and disposal plan for manure from the fur‐bearing animals that contains a description of the following:
(a) all places where the manure directly from the cages will drop;
(b) how the deposited manure will be transported to holding system; and
(c) how often the manure will be collected from the deposit location and transferred to a holding system.
Where a solid manure storage system is used the following requirements must be met:
(a) the fur farm must be designed to ensure no pooling of water between or under the animal housing buildings;
(b) manure deposit locations must be protected from infiltration of all sources of water, including precipitation and animal watering systems;
(c) between May 1 to November 30 in any year the manure must be collected from the deposit location a minimum frequency of once every 2 months; and
(d) Where a solid manure storage system is used, the holding tank must have a level concrete pad base.
Where a liquid manure storage system is used, the following requirements must be met:
(a) the system must be impermeable;
(b) the storage site must be emptied in
accordance with the approved management
plan; and
(c) where the system is earthen construction, it
must be constructed to be impermeable, with
a minimum separation of 1 m to the
groundwater table or bedrock.
The management plan for manure storage must contain a description of the following:
(a) whether the storage system is for solid or liquid manure;
(b) whether the storage system is covered or uncovered;
(c) the location of all buildings and pipes;
(d) the volume capacity of the holding system;
(e) schedule of disposals per year that relate the capacity in (d) to the manure output of the expected highest total number of animals in any year;
(f) how water will be prevented from entering the manure storage system;
(g) how run‐off will be prevented from leaking from the manure storage system.
•Contaminated water from the manure storage site must be captured, no discharge of contaminants is permitted from the farm property or to a watercourse.
•Manure storage site must be located at minimum separation distances from a watercourse, well or an off‐farm dwelling as set out in Table A.
• Manure must be disposed to a disposal facility approved by the Minister of Environment or in an approved manner identified under a nutrient management plan.
• The proposed operator must have an alternative manure disposal plan in place in the event that there is an interruption of primary manure disposal plan.
