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"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Wednesday, August 9, 2000 - 9 Moffatt gets reply, but questions unanswered By Chris Hall Port Perry Star After almost two months of waiting, Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt has finally received his reply from Ministry of Environment officials regarding an inci- dent earlier this summer on Scugog Island. The trouble is, none of his questions were answered. In a July 31 letter addressed to town- DOUG MOFFATT ship officials, the MOE letter thanked Mayor Moffatt for his interest in the matter and promised "punitive action is being pursued on this incident". However, the letter did not include any test results, revealing what was in the Pine Point Rd. stream on June Ministry wants plan to prevent a similar situation. Scugog farmer ordered to clean-up From Front Page similar accident like this doesn't happen again," said Mr. Fumerton. The order calls for the owner of the farming oper- ation to hire an engineer to come up with plans "to construct whatever is nec- essary to prevent this from happening again", he explained. "It is a generic type of order: They have to hire an engineer to oversee what is required to be done to ensure nothing more is released into the natural environment." The MOE leaves the planning up to the farm owner and the engineer, preferring not to get involved in that part of the effort. "We don't really get that specific; this way allows for more flexibility," said Mr. Fumerton. The farming operation has one month to com- plete the work. A certifica- tion of compliance check will be conducted one week after the 30-day timeframe has expired, he added. The MOE has dealt with the Pine Point Rd. farm in the past, says Mr Fumerton, noting "there is a-ile on the situation". He added that his Ministry has been issuing more field orders this year than in the past, possibly because of the high rain- fall which has caused more than the usual amount of run-off. The Scugog Island inci- dent has also been passed along to the MOE's Investigations and Enforcement branch, he added. An investigation could take up to two years, added Mr. Fumerton. He said he didn't know if the probe into the Pine Point Rd. farm had already begun. I'l that caused it to turn all black and smEll horrible. Similar tests conducted by Durham's health depart- ment found traces of pig manure in the stream, which may - be linked to a nearby farm. The MOE has since stepped in and has issued to the farming operation a field order, requiring them to make the necessary changes to ensure 14 the incident iS not repeated. ¥ "At least they did say they were working with other | agencies to get some answers on what happened... | '] hope that's what they're doing," said Mayor Moffatt, who Hi became somewhat impatient with the MOE over the past { few weeks in their delay in responding. "But they didn't really answer any of our questions as to what happened and how we can prevent it," he added. York-Durham District acting area supervisor Dave Fumerton said last week that test results would not be { released because the matter was under investigation. i The mayor is also becoming concerned over rumblings from Queen's Park that the enforcement of farm practices be passed along to municipalities. "If they think it should be the responsibility of munici- palities to enforce nutrient management programs then that's malarkey," said the mayor. He believes that responsibility should remain a provincial effort. "It's another downloading exercise that we won't accept - it's foolish. We don't have the expertise ARCHERY ~ BASEBALL ~ BASKETBALL ~ CANOEING ~ LACROSSE -~ GOLF 1 24 HR te, gt i" COVERAGE ONTARIO SUMMER CHANNEL GAMES ompton Ontario Summer Games Schedule i to handle it nor do we have the money to hire anyone," dz da aturda da said Mayor Moffatt. AUG 0 2000 A LIQ 000 Ts 000 ALi XX 4 "It is the responsibility of (the government) to ensure 0 Ea i tcc : J vd i i gy. toon) Women's Softball ~~ 6:29am the people have safe drinking water and that farm prac- 0630 Opening Ceremonies (Cont) 6:30am tices are being done properly." oo (Cont) - re Mayor Moffatt has said he plans to visit Durham MPP 0800 WatereKing 8:00am John O'Toole's office this week to "see what concrete 0830 ahons Challenge 2000 (repeat) Challenge 2000 (repeat) 1 8:30am actions are being taken and what the (MOE"s) samples th occer Beach Volleyball Track & Field Highlights 530m show. 1 don't know what they found in their samples, but 1000 Challenge 2000 Morning Update Challenge 2000 Morning Update Change 200 Hors Update | 10.00am there was pig manure in mine. What did they find? Why 1030 - aterskiing 10.30am : ; " 0 Box Lacrosse Box Lacrosse 11.00 don't they tell us what is going on? 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