by Jill Sherrill Smith

Factory farms are "nothing but multina- tional conglomerates parading as family farms," according to Scott Dye, speaking at a March conference on intensive livestock operations (ILOs).

Over 250 delegates attending the London conference heard from national and international speakers across the continent.

"Fight the good fight" against the invasion of corporate agriculture and the erosion of rural life was the message returned to Erinsville Ñ the front line of our local pork wars. A sleepy hamlet northwest of Kingston, Erinsville nestles beside Beaver Lake and hugs the Canadian Shield. Surrounded by marginal farm and recreational land, it seems an unlikely location for a mega-hog factory. Yet a serious skirmish is unfolding involving local residents, township council, and a hog factory farmer.

For Erinsville and neighbouring Beaver Lake, the thought of over 1,400 sows birthing piglets on the hill farm is frightening. Residents are afraid that their wells will be contaminated by manure from the hogs' one-acre large open sewage lagoon. They worry that ammonia and hydrogen sulfide gases Ñ produced by the tons of pig wastes stored for free distribution to contracting area farmers as fertilizer Ñ will negatively affect quality of life and health. A recent Ontario Pork study revealed that 16 per cent of lagoons leak, and more have "structural issues." The proposed Erinsville operation would see manure spread on neighbouring fields in quantities unprecedented in the area.

Residents want to know: Will there be manure seepage into the aquifer through cracks in the limestone bedrock? Will manure seepage, run-off or spills from the lagoon leach into the many streams feeding the lake, resulting in fish kills and polluted water? What, they wonder, are the implications not just on ground water but on the underground aquifer? Since there has been no study to show how this hog factory farm might affect area water, residents wonder if the thousands of gallons of water required each day will deplete the water table. If the water table drops, will this operation cause wells to run dry?

At a local public meeting in Centreville, a representative of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) told over 150 concerned residents that the hog factory would use only 6,000 gallons of water per day for washing and drinking water.

"Where's all that water going to come from?" asked resident Judy Lemmon.

Generalized laughter greeted the OMAFRA rep's suggestion that this amount of water represented no more than the average use of two households. Many at the meeting were shocked to learn that no mechanisms for monitoring intensive livestock operations exist in Ontario and that water quality precautions are voluntary. Monitoring wells are not mandatory, according to the Harris government. Although Mark Slack, the hog operation's proponent, is required to dig boreholes adjacent to the barn, these holes do not have to be monitored Ñ except by the operator, on an honour system.

"What about my child with asthma?" asked Diane St. Louis. " I have been told the gases will irritate his lungs."

OMAFRA representative, Steve Redmond, replied that planting trees around the lagoon would reduce odours. The worst time for the smell, he noted, was between seven and eleven in the evening, so children would be out of school. Residents, well aware of how long trees take to grow, were unconvinced by the testimonials of Slack's experts. Slack claims that the million-dollar operation is a family farm. He paints a bucolic portrait of himself and his wife, Sarah, tending to their one hour and fifteen minutes of chores a day in the sow barn. Claiming that intensive livestock operations (ILOs) are the family farms of today, Slack states that no one would have complained if he had 140 sows 20 years ago. People do not understand that a 1,400-hog factory farm is the family farm of today, he argues. Slack does not take kindly to opposition especially when it comes from his neighbours.

"You've got a circle of command that are looking for a way out" of approving the operation, he told the AgriNews, "an Achilles heel, with absolutely zero tolerance."

Slack previously applied to set up in Tyendinaga Township, but an interim by-law prohibited new construction. He then re-applied in February to Stone Mills Township, where the municipal council finds itself caught between irate citizens and a stubborn operator. Deputy Reeve Doug Bearance holds that simply not issuing a building permit is the best way out of the dilemma. No matter what decision is made, a lawsuit will follow. If no permit is issued, Slack may appeal to the Normal Farm Practices Board, a provincial watchdog charged with ensuring the "right to farm." Or he could fight the municipality for lost income in divisional court. If a permit is issued, the citizens will sue.

According to Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, "No one has the right to pollute."

But no one has the right to stop factory hog farms either.

At the recent conference in London Ñ entitled Sustainable Livestock Farms and Healthy Communities Ñ Miller could only suggest that citizens facing mega-hog operations "bring forward pollution information for investigation." Meanwhile, residents of Erinsville feel that they are losing both quality of life and a clean environment. Property values have dropped around Erinsville, and real estate is not moving. Nothing has sold in over a month and people are upset. Now, they cannot move.

"Factory farms promise to be good neighbours and environmental stewards," said Scott Dye, a former farmer, now the Agricultural Coordinator for the Sierra Club of the United States. "They promise economic growth and jobs. But they don't deliver."

Dye, who assists rural communities threatened by intensive livestock operations, sees other options: Factory farming "is not a natural or inevitable development in agriculture." Is factory farming without accountability the only choice? For the hamstrung residents of Erinsville, the answer is a resounding no.

Jill Sherrill Smith teaches women's studies at Queen's and Trent universities. She is a member of the Concerned Citizens for Our Community Environments.