Manitoba Bans Expansion to Protect Waterways
CANADA - A temporary ban on new or expanded hog barns has been enforced across Manitoba. The government says it is to protect the quality of the province's lakes and rivers.Reports in the Canadian Press say the moratorium replaces a temporary, province-wide ban that was put in place in November 2006 to allow the Clean Environment Commission to review how Manitoba's 8.8 million pigs were affecting the environment.
"When we introduced the (temporary ban) last year, we did so to determine if growth in the industry was environmentally sustainable," Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said Monday as he released the commission's report.
"Clearly, in some parts of our province, the answer is no."
The indefinite moratorium will affect the areas with about three-quarters of Manitoba's hogs: the Interlake, Winnipeg regions and the Red River Valley.
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