Ontario's Minister of Agriculture says he's drafting new regulations for factory farms. There are growing concerns in the wake of the Walkerton tragedy about the potential for water contamination from manure run-off. Currently, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs gives farmers guidelines for managing manure, but there are no regulations.
Provincial officials carry out inspections only when they have been alerted to a problem.
The contaminant in Walkerton's water has been identified as E. coli 0157, which comes from cattle manure. It's still not known which dairy farm was the source of the contamination. Agriculture Minister Ernie Harderman says the new regulations will be based on provincial hearings into agriculture intensification earlier this year. But he says fertilizer is not toxic waste, it's fertilizer, and it's up to farmers to manage it responsibly. In many municipalities, groups of residents have formed environmental groups to pressure local politicians to pass bylaws capping the size of dairy and pork operations.