A swine production company was charged and fined two weeks ago for dumping garbage and dead pigs into an open pit, contravening environmental laws.
The Puratone Corporation was ordered to remove the pigs and other refuse from the pit, located at its ASR Pigs Ltd. operation near La Broquerie, Man.
The company was also ordered to rehabilitate the site where the pit was dug, said Dennis Brown, regional director for Manitoba Environment.
The fines and other costs levied against Puratone for the violations amount to almost $3,000.
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Puratone is a privately owned hog and feed company headquartered in Niverville, Man. It has operations in Manitoba and Alberta.
The company said late last week that the dead carcasses and waste had been removed from the pit and appropriately disposed of. The site has also been restored as requested by Manitoba Environment, the company said.
Manitoba Environment requires that dead pigs be placed in a container while awaiting pick-up for a rendering plant. However, the container at the farm was full, said Ab Freig, Puratone’s chief operating officer, and the carcasses were temporarily placed in a ground pit.
He admitted that dumping pigs in the pit was a mistake on the part of workers at ASR Pigs. It contravened environmental laws and went against the policies of Puratone, Freig said in a prepared statement.
“This incident should not have occurred and we have already begun an investigation into the causes of this incident and ways to ensure it will not happen at any of our farms, for any reason, in the future.”
The issue was brought to light by a farm family near La Broquerie, Man., that was concerned about potential water contamination.
Kelly Dube said she and her husband phoned a television station, which investigated the incident. Dube said they did not go directly to Manitoba Environment because of doubts about whether the department would take swift and adequate measures to correct the situation.
“If we hadn’t convinced a film crew to come out, you can be sure not a damn thing would have happened here,” she said.
She accused the province of being lax in the way it monitors large-scale hog barns in Manitoba. She said Puratone’s barns near La Broquerie sit in a swampy area. The water table in the area is high, and many people draw water from shallow wells.
Dube estimated there were at least 150 pigs dumped in the pit. Rubber boots, syringes and empty medication bottles were among the debris, she said.
Brown said his department learned of the situation through media reports. Manitoba Environment began to investigate almost immediately.
He described the situation near La Broquerie as an uncommon occurrence in Manitoba.
