Der Paschen Hof	Environmental Issues	RR3 72680 Bronson Line Zurich ON N0M 2T0 Tel: 519-236-4361 Fax: 519-236-7280 Email: paschen@hay.net

Petition

"It is our intention to introduce a by-law to the Township of Bluewater and the County of Huron, making it mandatory for all urban and rural residences and businesses to use environmently friendly and safe practices, products and tecnology in order to preserve and restore our environment.   Furthermore, we want the Township of Bluewater and the County of Huron to promote and help to implement new environmentally friendly and safe sources of energy, such as bio-gas, hydrogen gas, solar and wind energy.  We want to encourage usage of small water powered turbines to replace fossil fuel and nuclear power in our homes, businesses, farms and machinery.  It is our belief that the time to act is now, in order to save our watershed, top soils and air for our children's future and their right to live a safe, decent and healthy life." This Petition is being backed by the CFFO, Huron County Christian Farmers organisation .

Background

Changing the Future of Agriculture
By Pat Bolen
(adapted from the Wednesday, February 5, 2003 issue of Exeter Times Advocate)

EXETER- Uwe Paschen is a man with a simple plan.  He wants to change the agricultural practices of North America.  But for now, he'll start with municipality of Bluewater.  His petition, backed by the Huron County Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFF0) reads:
	"It is our intention to introduce a by-law to the township of Bluewater and the county of Huron, making it mandatory for all urban and rural residences and businesses to use environmentally friendly and safe practices, products and technology in order to preserve and restore our environment. Further, we want the township of Bluewater and the county of Huron to promote and help to implement new environmentally-friendly and safe sources of energy such as Bio Gas, Hydrogen gas, Solar Thermal and Niolene energy and small, water-powered turbines to replace fossil fuel and nuclear power in our homes, businesses, farms and machinery. It is our belief that the time to act is now, in order to save our watershed, top soils, and air for our children's future and their right to live a safe, decent and healthy life."
With this petition in hand the Zurich farmer and former chemical engineer hopes to make agriculture more environmentally-friendly.  Paschen wants to build support through the spring and early summer.  He received the support of the Huron County CFFO at a meeting Jan. 28.
Huron CFF0 president Gary Haak said
	"the purpose of the petition is to get a dialogue going, and get people thinking and working towards environmentally friendly practices.  And to take away roadblocks from anyone trying to implement these strategies.  Anytime you try to preserve the environment and leave something for the next generation, that is something from a Christian farmers perspective that should be encouraged."
Paschen has been involved in farming for most of his life, having grown up on a farm.  He got back into farming six years ago and believes changes are both needed and possible to the way farms are run.
	"We have the technology today to radically change our practices in ways that are cost effective and environmentally-friendly," says Paschen.  "However the changes are not going to happen without some education and some pressure.  Most farmers lack the knowledge of what is possible and are afraid of any change."
Paschen believes in order to improve our environmental practices it will be neces- sary to follow Germany's example.  He says,
	"A few years back they just changed the law.  They forced people to think differently and they leveled the ground ....at first the farmers shouted, but now eight years later they are starting to see the benefits, and some are starting to make money."
He says Canada is already behind Europe and Asia in environmental research and "if we don't start somewhere, we are lost." His argument is if we are not one of the leaders in the technology, we will end up buying it from other countries after they patent it, which has already happened in some cases.
Methane gas One of his goals is to change the use of diesel fuel in farm vehicles to run on methane gas, a practice he says pollutes on two levels, both from the diesel burned and methane released into the atmosphere from manure storage and sewage plants.  He says
	"diesel engines are converted very easily to run on methane gas but we would have to change our manure handling methods."
The use of methane in agriculture is proven to work in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands but the program has been subsidized by European governments.  He believes one of the problems in agriculture is ignorance and reluctance by institutions in general, including the banks.  He says
	"Even with good business plans, banks reject proposals because they don't understand the concept or the technology because it has never been done in Ontario.  Even bringing up examples from other parts of the world where it has been done has no impact."
Reaction has been mixed from area farming organizations.  Former president of the Huron County Federation of agriculture (HOFA) Charles Regele says,
	"We'd all love to have environmentally-friendly, sustainable resources to use on our farms...  I'd love to be able to work my farm with less dangerous fossil fuels, but we can't until that comes commercially available for agriculture."
Regele added
	"We're influenced not just by what we do personally in Huron county, but by what Detroit does in our Great Lakes systems.  We're not the ones creating all the air pollutants when it comes to humidity in the Huron County middle of summer.  We're putting up with what the Golden Horseshoe creates.  This is a grandmother type petition and anybody in their right mind would sign it.  If I had an economically feasible alternative for my diesel fuel tomorrow morning, I would use it, although it would be four to five times the money than what would put .in my tractor now."
Current HOFA President Neil Vincent, speaking on his own behalf and not that of the OFA said,
	"I applaud many of the measures but there are so many things that come into play on"a broad range of topics, as to what the controls are, what you can do and what you can't do.  It's extremely hard to say anything against motherhood issues, but there are so many ways and means of meeting those issues."
He added he would like to see the science behind the ideas before making any decisions. Paschen says he is an optimist but also a "realist" on how difficult what he is proposing will be.  But he also believes Huron County can show the way to the rest of the province.
	"Huron County has some of the best conditions.   We are close to all the big cities, we are right at the lake with a great economy to start with.  We could lead the way."
For more information on the petition call Paschen at 519 236 4361.

Environment in the Municipality of Bluewater 2006

As time goes by we seem to get older and some times wiser and even calmer. This aging process helps us to mature and take things less personally and take a more objective, a more logical and even more responsible approach to life and our surrounding. We all made a great deal of mistakes throughout our lives and had unnecessary run ins with one another and even made enemies for lack of compassion and presence of an ego too big.. In time we learn to see things from different angles and be more open minded to new or even old ideas. In my case as you may all remember I have the environment at heart as most of us may. I want to leave this land for our children and their children to be in as good a condition or better as was when I was born. Such a desire may seem like great challenge, knowing that we have global warming, and many more disasters that are all man- made.

Now we may not be able to change the world, nor this country, how ever we should at least be able to change the municipality of Bluewater and ourselves. Will it be easy? Certainly not. Will it be expensive? Most certainly. Can we do it? Definitely! How? Well why not start by stopping to make it worthwhile?! I invited some of you to join me to talk about all this and I will do so again. I meet with Joe Gleason and we talk as good neighbors tend to do at times, with an open mind and some good will. II have to admit that he is on the same wave length as I am with my petition from 2003, that was backed by the CFFO and can still be found on our web page at petition . Joe does make a good point. After after reading his research and comparing it with research from OMAFRA, the University of Guelph and the Great Lake research from last fall that pointed out that the USA Lake states reduced their pollution by 3% in the past 5 years and that the Canadian provinces of the Great Lakes had increased there's by 21%, we have a wake up call in Huron. I would suggest that we all look at Joe's new and revised paper one more time as objectively and rationally as our descendants would want us to look at any such matter of great importance. We are responsible for our children's future. Don't we own them to work together and solve our problems as one would expect us to do? Even if the price may be high for us today, it would be worth wile for our children tomorrow. Don't we all care deeply about our children's well being and there right to live as we used to! I for one, as a farmer, as a father and as a member of this community, cannot keep my ears nor my mouth shut when it come to our children and there children's future and right to live as well and healthy as we used to! This is why I will support Joe and his proposition.

We have a problem that concerns many. Now we have two provinces, medical associations, and communities all over Ontario speaking up… While they fight back, the pressure is on the Municipality of Bluewater…. For more information see this link … Manitoba Hog Barns

I am now convinced after attending the Environmental Farm Plan, that as farmers, we all should complete one. Some interesting questions came up as well as solutions and things that one may easily overlook. However I believe even so I have to say it is a great idea and an excellent program, I wish it would go even farther! It is an excellent thing to do and to implement, with a lot of paper work, but well worth it!

A similar program called the Lake-shore Stewardship Manual, exists for cottagers and lake shore communities. If we all implemented every thing in those two programs we would make a great difference and substantially improve our environment. Maybe this program should be made mandatory just like the Manure Management Plan already is mandatory! Uwe Paschen.

This Crisis involves everyone!
  Step 1: Learn: Read the facts in the attached detailed letter to Bill Dowson, at this link.
    Then watch this fun and informative Video www.TheMeatrix.com. 
    Please be aware that hundreds of communities are fighting for their very future over this same issue.
   Step 2: Pass it on: Forward this email to neighbors, friends, associations, & papers.
    In order for change to happen – we must all speak up. We are the only voice against the power of  big business (bottom line driven) that seeks to cover up the extent of the problems created in every community where CAFOs locate.
Step 3:  Show support: Send an email to Council showing your support.
  Email: Council & cc Joe Gleason by clicking on this E-mail link…   
  It will an open an addressed email– put in your thoughts after you’ve considered the facts, and hit send.
  The email will be addressed to all Council members as well as being copied to Joe Gleason.

Without your involvement now, we will suffer the same fate hundreds of other “livestock intensive” communities have suffered.  Our property values will plummet, even as our proportionate share of taxes increase. Our businesses, our jobs and our children will leave town. Tourism will all but stop.  The reputation of this area will be irrevocably tarnished; our environment and our community, will be left in ruins.     

The attached letter in summary:
 -   Why CAFO ’s (Confined Feeding Operations)  are the largest threat to BlueWater & Huron County. 
 - Undeniable supporting documentation on why Human Waste is less than 1% of the pollution problem along the shores and tributaries of Lake Huron.
 -  Several areas of BlueWater shores are now permanently unsafe for swimming – See Ottawa Citizen.
 -  CAFO’s generate the waste equivalent of over 2,000 towns the size of Goderich in Huron County .
 -  CAFO’s – less than 1% benefit while the 99% carry the burden (higher taxes, pollution, lost jobs etc.) 
 -  CAFO’s – Less than 1% of the unhealthy meat products are consumed locally.
 -  CAFO’s – are proven to harm the overall financial stability of communities 99% of the time.
 -  CAFO’s – destroy local drinking water systems and sicken their community.
 -  CAFO’s use over 99% of the Human Antibiotics in Huron County.
 -  Quebec passed a Moratorium on new Hog CAFO’s, as well as several other communities around North America.
 -  Creeks that have no human waste possible still have levels that are 100X over the safe limit.  
 -  Creeks that have no CAFO population upstream are CLEAN.
 -  People are already getting sick--rashes, infections, Crohn’s, even Cancer and heart disease, it’s all part of the CAFO’s move in.
 -  Simply Put, CAFOs – benefit less than 1% of Huron County’s residents--YET burden the other 99% with severe environmental degradation!

Putting it on the line, one last time Gleason has offered to leave Huron County if he cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that human waste is less than 1% of problem.  He’s not against “agriculture”; he’s against CAFO’s.  He is putting his neck on the line for BlueWater and Huron County, for the last time     Read it over, it’s the real deal…

This is our chance to speak up, and protect not only our environment, our health, our families, our jobs, our homes, but the very future of Bluewater. 

The attached letter, also available at this link, covers this subject in shocking, unquestionable detail.  

They only thing we are asking for is a chance to present professional witnesses before Council and allow a reasonable and responsible course of action to take place.    

Again, read the attached letter, forward it along to everyone you know in Bluewater, and send a note to Council saying “Let’s do what’s right”! Place a MORATORIUM on additional or expanded CAFOs! 

Again, write an email showing your support for this letter: Please click on this link… today and voice your opinion! 

And by all means – watch the www.themeatrix.com -- an entertaining but very informative video that nicely represents the problem we are ALL facing…

Our beaches are already worse than Toronto’s, while areas such as Muskoka, Tobermory, and Michigan’s west coast have virtually no closed beaches or e. coli problems.   Why?  No CAFO’s… You need to decide what kind of future you want for your community. NOW is the time to speak up!

Rev 2006 Dec 17