RED DEER – Ten minutes into the working day of Jan. 2, 2002, the phones started ringing at the Natural Resources Conservation Board offices.
Staff at the agency that was appointed to regulate Alberta’s growing and contentious intensive livestock industry have been playing catch-up ever since.
The board was established in 1991 to oversee the oil and gas industry and was expanded to cover the livestock industry in 2002, removing responsibility from municipalities.
Last year, the NRCB’s six offices received 169 applications: 73 sought approvals for new or expanding farms, 44 for registrations and 52 for such activities as changing a farm practice like manure management.
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Most applications were for hog operations in the Highway 2 corridor region between Calgary and Edmonton.
A major problem has been technically incomplete applications that were returned to operators for more information.
“That is a significant frustration for the operators,” said Alex Bolton, head of enforcement.
Besides approvals, the offices heard nearly 1,000 complaints about 430 operations. Most were about hog farm odour. One operation was the source of 249 complaints.
“Odour complaints are the most challenging ones because there is no benchmark in what is acceptable and what is not acceptable,” Bolton said.
When contacted by the NRCB, most operators co-operated and made the recommended changes, while others proved stubborn and required further NRCB action. Some complaints were forwarded to other agencies such as public health or the federal department of fisheries.
