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Letter: Article riddled with opinions

Regarding, “Water protection groups seek improvements to regulations published in the Shuswap Market News , Feb. 2 edition.
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Regarding, “Water protection groups seek improvements to regulations published in the Shuswap Market News, Feb. 2 edition.

There so many factual errors and false innuendos included in this article by Tracy Hughes that I find it difficult to believe that a journalist with your credibility would not have done some independent research on SEAS and SWAT’s press release before publishing such an unbalanced article.

A Google review of “Hullcar Aquifer” would have shown you:

• that the Agriculture Waste Control Regulation review has been moving through its legislative process since the AWCR literature review in 2008, not because of the POLIS review or because of the latest MOE policy intentions paper review.

• that all agricultural commodity sectors province wide have been working very diligently with the Ministry of Environment staff through all aspects of the proposed new regulations to develop comprehensive regulations that are comprehensive, understandable, workable, and enforceable. And that they have been doing so without fanfare and self-congratulatory press releases.

• that the farms in Hullcar have been found willing and in full compliance of every request placed to them by the Ministry of Environment.

• that Steele Spring water nitrate levels continue to climb even though agriculture has been proven through independent scientific research that crop nutrients are remaining within the crop root zone of the soil.

• And that possibly you would not have allowed yourself to use the inflammatory and disrespectful language of SWAT and SEAS’s press release towards agriculture as your own in this article.

The farmers I have spoken to have found it very offensive.

By publishing the “Chicken Little, sky is falling” rants of Mr. Cooperman and Mr. Nadeau as an article rather than as a “Letter to the editor” where all other submitted opinions are placed you have given unjustified credibility to their opinions and done a great disservice to the agriculture sectors of this community.

Lorne Hunter