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WELL tests


release of materials that might affect local groundwater, but the Golder Associates study indicated that local hydrology is complex to understand. Two of the wells that tested above 10 ppm


were right behind the Jansen dairy, something Country Life in BC reported last December has been the case since the Jansen family moved to the property in 2006. Yet two other sites right behind the Jansen barn tested less than 1 ppm, as did one just across the road from the farm’s retention pond. In the case of Grace-Mar, one well tested


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above the 10 ppm threshold while an adjacent well was less than 1 ppm. The circumstance challenges Kampman, who implemented a nutrient manage plan shortly after acquiring his property seven years ago. Workers have carefully managed the property to mitigate farm impacts on the environment. Nevertheless, nitrates are entering the aquifer and no one is coming up with answers. “It’s really hard to pinpoint it,” he said, noting that some believe they may predate Grace- Mar’s arrival. This doesn’t diminish Grace-Mar’s responsibilities as the current owner, Kampman said, but the farm can only work with the best available information. “We own it now so we have to do whatever


we can to stop the nitrate levels from rising,” he said.


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Residents were told the Golder Associates study indicated that the aquifer had shown some response to farm management practices, but not enough to resolve the issue. Until the origin and movement of the nitrates is understood – and whether one aquifer or two are involved – all anyone can do is manage the problem. This could last seven to 10 years. Golder Associates recommends a variety of additional field programs to improve understanding of conditions in the Hullcar Valley and the nature and behaviour of the local aquifer.


The situation frustrates Kampman and other


farmers, who – as Dale Jansen of H.S. Jansen & Son told Country Life in BC in December – must live under a cloud of blame in the interim. Pollution abatement orders slapped on nine


properties a year ago remain in place for six of the properties, including H.S. Jansen and Grace-Mar. The orders claim that, in the opinion of the


BC Ministry of the Environment, there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that the farms are being managed“ in a manner that is likely to cause pollution” and “the specific substance likely to cause pollution is agricultural waste, including manure and/or manure laden effluent, from which nitrate is leaching into groundwater.”


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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • APRIL 2017 nfrom page 9


The orders are registered against the title for the various properties and farms operating under the orders must file action plans that show they’re taking steps to improve management practices and limit pollution – despite the fact that the province hasn’t definitely laid blame on them. “Where can I say, ‘I’m going to follow your


rules, and I’m good to go?’ Nobody can give me that yet, and that’s the frustrating part,” Kampman said. The orders have cost farms hundreds of thousands of dollars for wells to monitor groundwater, money that some suggested might have been better spent connecting to an alternative water supply in the beginning. The move would have cost just $300,000, one farmer said. “The pollution abatement orders … have


put significant financial requirements on the farmers,” Kyllo told the March 3 meeting. Still, the ongoing monitoring has been


helpful. “Armed with that evidence we’ve now been able to identify … farmers who are exercising best management practices and also some other areas where there may be room for improvement,” he said. The grant of funding, and the lengthy


remediation period, isn’t likely to please all residents, however.


Call for moratorium on manure spreading Al Price, chair of the Save Hullcar Aquifer


Team, continued to point his finger at the Jansen farm, despite direction from moderators to avoid ad hominem comments. He accused the government of trying to buy votes with its announcement, something Kyllo denied. Price, however, would only be satisfied with one outcome: “a permanent moratorium on spreading manure.” Orlando Schmidt, an agrologist overseeing


sector development for the agriculture ministry, said that’s not part of the current action, which aims to build trust and facilitate the co-existence of residents and the sustainable development of local farms. The province seeks science-based protocols that keep nitrate readings below 6 ppm. The divide in the community troubles Christa Zacharias-Homer, who chairs the inter- ministry working group tackling the issue. She was clearly moved by the stress the community has been under. “When you come to the hall, you’re all


divided. That’s really hard to hear,” she said. “What’s going to need to happen to correct nitrates in the Hullcar aquifer is to have everyone join together. Everyone has to start supporting everybody else.”


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