OCTOBER 19, 2000
OVERWHELMING OPPOSITION TO TAIWAN SUGAR HOG MEGA-BARN
HARDISTY, Alta.--Approximately 200 people packed a hall in Hardisty, Alberta today to register their opposition to a proposal by Taiwan Sugar Corporation to build a 150,000 hog per year mega-barn complex. Flagstaff County originally granted Taiwan Sugar a license to construct its barn complex. Residents appealed and the County is now conducting appeal hearings.
"The public outcry was overwhelming", Said NFU President Cory Ollikka. Ollikka and other NFU members testified before the appeal hearing and presented a brief. Ollikka continued: "The vast majority of people at the hearings opposed the barns. It was nearly impossible to find anyone who did not have a direct financial stake in the mega-barns that would speak in favour of them."
Citizens had many reasons for opposing mega-barn construction: flies, water contamination, odour, and the destruction of the family farm.
The NFU pointed out that the economic benefits that mega-barns promised jobs, community investment, and markets for grain were an illusion. "For every job created by these mega-barns, two family farm hog producers will be pushed out of the business and forced to look for off-farm work," said Ollikka. He also noted that "Family farm hog producers buy supplies locally and spend profits in their communities. The mega-barns that force these families out of hog production buy supplies in distant urban centers and extract all profits from the community."
"The NFU brief also cited U.S. studies that document over 100 cases of large corporate hog producers dumping or spilling manure in 1999. The dumping and spills totalled more than 4= million gallons. While the economic benefits are highly questionable, the potential health and environmental costs are very real," said Ollikka.
Ollikka concluded: "Communities are drying up financially. Transferring hog production from local farm families to foreign corporations will only exacerbate that problem. At the same time, it will destroy quality of life for surrounding residents and threaten the water supply for all citizens."
Hearings continue in Killam tomorrow.
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For More Information:
Cory Ollikka, NFU President: (780) 499-4805
Dale Fankhanel, NFU member: (780) 877-2280