From Willow on October 1st

Hi Alan & folks,

The Concern:
I live literally down wind from this proposed piggy site to the west wind side. Even if they toss cover ups on the smelly issue we are still doomed as in the summer months I live on the Nation River water shed that fills my own well for water supplies. We have enough problems with our water tables being as low as they are in the past summers.

How it works:
I get water in the spring & in the fall from the surface into my 18ft. well & a vein that only runs at this time, because of the water table levels. (This by the way is about 10ft. lower than in the usual years, as per the area Water Witches, literally!) In the summer, I usually run dry by June, so I have to pump water from the Nation River, (which is full of clay sediment as it is, and pollutants from area leaching, which the Nation Conservation Authorities are trying desperately to clean up.) To filter the water this year, I had to let it run on top of the ground near the well, & the ground absorbs it until the well is full enough, then we shut off the pump. The River water is reserved in the well for use in the home to brush our teeth, flush our toilet, shower, laundry & dishes, water my dogs, cats & horses & keep the pond from drying up so my fish can thrive. It's a real chore to do this every year, now it's becoming the norm, since the recent past droughts. So I have to figure out a plan to make a permanent filter from the river to my well, when my finances are able to. So you see I really need my water, something I've been battling for many years just to have, it's gold around here.

On the water issue, I'm even worse off than the Whispering Pines whogets their water from a sandy spring fed pond on their land & they just live 3 km above me on the next concession. But I live in the clay valley called "the flood zone." (Yah, I'm a bit teeny weenie jealous.)

In the Dark:
I also pay taxes on my 100 acres farm & home to the Nation Municipality, and they haven't informed me by letter or otherwise that they issued a permit for the mega pig farm. So I guess they don't really give a dam about their own residencies that have been here a life time.

In fact I haven't heard or seen anything in town either about it. (Maybe I just didn't notice it either) You would think that the ones living off the water shed grid & the town of Plantagenet would be making more noise over this whole thing because they would be the ones slated to be the next Walkerton victims!

News I heard:
The only reason I have "wind" at all about it, is because my neighbour is selling his farm. He has approx. 400 acres for sale. There was an offer, but NO PURCHASE of the farm, yet! (I say YET because the vultures are waiting to see what happens to the other purchased lands they intend on turning into mega piggy Industry, like the camouflaged dairy farms in St. Eugene.) And we the citizens are hoping it will all disappear!

This is the biggy & point of my involvement:
Now someone explain this to me, how the Nation Municipality could grant a "building permit to a non residence" on a proposed farm site, that isn't even purchased. Yet! Eh? { I'm pissed off with this alone, because area residents have a hard enough time to get building permits, ~just like that~ let alone be a non resident, give me a break, do they see $ signs just to rake in a couple of grand for land tax? How ~simple are they. I say this is a total leap before they looked ordeal, on behalf of the Nation Municipality.}

My disgust:
So there you go it's hanging in the air, so far, just waiting for its strings to be pulled. Where do we go from here? I'm still in the dark; I don't know who's not talking & who is. I haven't received a snail mail on the issue, so I figure none of my neighbours have either. & I don't see my neighbours rallying for anything, at least I wasn't invited.

The Action Plan:
I guess I should shake up the neighbourhood & become a "shit" disturber so we can "spread the news like manure" to all the residences in the area. "It's time for a wake up call!"

Willow )O(


More from Willow on October 1st

Hello,

Found some addresses for the concerned about the Mega Swine Industry.

South Nation River Conservation Authority
P.O. Box 69
15 Union Street
Berwick, Ontario
K0C 1G0
Ph. (613)984-2947
Fax (613)984-2872
E-mail: info@nation.on.ca
Homepage: www.nation.on.ca

Here's a URL of the area webpage for Nation Municipality : http://www.nationmun.ca/

Willow )O(


More Updates from Willow on October 2nd

Hi all,

I found out that this is actually old news about the Piggy farm. It started in the spring.

Since this is old news and the petitions went around in early spring. There is a lady in the old school house in Westminster, just up the road from Whispering Pines, who organized it. And as far as I can tell everything is on hold.

The building permit is granted conditionally to the archaeological find of some Indian village on W.B's farm. They did the dig and are just putting the paperwork together and then it is a go ahead. But the land is not sold yet to the pig farmer, it is to the condition that the building can go ahead.

Kind of complicated and mixed up at the moment.
Maybe that's a good thing! It's stalled for now.

If anyone hears more about it, let me know, because I'm not one to stand in town to hear the gossip that goes around. I'm out in the country for a reason! I really keep to myself these days.

Willow )O(


Another Update from Anne and Alan on October 13th

Dear Folks,

This is an update since the last e-mail about the Pig Factory proposed near Whispering Pines. We were there this weekend and we did a ritual. Thanks to those of you who sent your energy, the ritual worked really well. We went to the site where the actual Muldoon farm that is supposed to be sold to the Pig Industry for production and I realised it was just down the road! The place is practically next door to Whispering Pines, only 5km away!

A few things have changed about the situation- the Native artefacts will be dug up on the land but they will simply be taken away by the Native people and so the land will still not be protected. So we still need to fight.

Some good news- the hydro set up is really expensive and the farmer who is selling the land has raised his price-this is a positive sign but still we need to take action to stop this type of factory-farming because it threatens all rural communities. Even the Ottawa area is threatened by this because if there is a flood, the pig feces can end up in the Ottawa River.

So I made up a letter to Dalton McGuinty, the new premier of Ontario that can be printed out and sent. Please do this...it will help a lot. We will also be meeting at Whispering Pines in the Gazebo on November 9th, Sunday, at 1:30pm to do a ritual to protect the land. The ritual will be led by Eric, the shaman who did the sweat lodge at AI. If you want to bring pot luck stuff that's great but keep in mind we won't have facilities for cooking or clean up. Dress warm also.

Rolf and Eileen thank you and all the people who care about Whispering Pines also thank you.

Blessings of Isis,

Anne & Alan


Download The State of the Environment Report for Prescott-Russel [coming soon]
Downlaod Information and Petition from Local Residents [coming soon]

Forward to More emails and updates
Forward to Ritual to Save Whispering Pines and Area
Forward to Letters Sent by Local Residents
Forward to Anne and Alan's Letter to Dalton McGuinty