The National Resource Conservation Board (NRCB) will continue to uphold conditions imposed upon a pig lot near Little Fish Lake.
Sunterra Farms applied to have 14 conditions regarding manure disposal lifted. The conditions would allow Sunterra to spread closer to the edge of their property, bodies of water, and at more times, including long weekends.
“When we built the unit, it was before there was a code of practice in place for producers. We’re asking that our pig unit be treated the same as any unit built today under the code of practice guidelines. So, we applied to have some of our conditions removed,” said Ben Woolley, Vice President Operations, with Sunterra.
“This is land we bought originally to spread on in the first place and all we’re saying is we bought the lands and the setbacks are further than what is in the code of practice now.”
The conditions Sunterra has been operating under were created by Special Areas, but since then, the NRCB has instituted less strict requirements.
“When it was first applied for, setting the conditions was the responsibility of the municipality. Then, it was taken over by the NRCB,” said Jay Slemp, chair of Alberta Special Areas.
Special Areas wanted to see the conditions remain in effect.
“The Special Areas Board’s position is that when they first applied, they appealed, there was a decision made, and those were the conditions it was accepted under. We aren’t looking for any change. If it was good enough then, it is good enough now,” said Slemp.
Special Areas feels the conditions protect the users of Little Fish Lake.
“We felt it was important, because we wanted to make sure there was no spreading on weekends and the unit is very close to Little Fish Lake. We felt (the conditions) were reasonable, because people would come out to enjoy some recreation and they only have a limited amount of time to enjoy that. It was a legitimate concern raised and we tried to address it when the (Sunterra) lot was first approved back in the day,” said Slemp.
A NRCB approval officer upheld most of the conditions, especially those that pertained to storage and spreading near water.
Sunterra appealed and a hearing was held on March 12 in Drumheller. The NRCB board made its final decision on Friday, April 12. In their decision they upheld the approval officer’s decision.
“The board is kind of an appeal party that operates separately from our approval officer, who initially rejected most of the changes asked by Sunterra,” said Bill Kennedy, general counsel with the NRCB.
Sunterra rescinded their request to have a condition restricting them spreading less than 122 metres from any body of water removed citing the condition provides security for the cabin owners and other people using Little Fish Lake.
In the end, Sunterra remains restricted in where and when it can spread manure. It cannot spread near any body of water and cannot spread on long weekends.
