Monique Tamminga

Times Reporter

Elaine and Ray Halvorson are hoping to have their first trout pond up and running this fall if all goes well with approval from the Agricultural Land Commission.

The couple have sent a report to the ALC that answers numerous questions the commission asked about the proposed land-based fish farm. The Halvorsons say the report says the fish farm will have no impact on ground water or neighbouring aquifers, said Ray.

“We are not using aquifer water for the ponds,” he adds.

At the last Township council meeting, council voted to have its own study done on the impact of the gravel extraction and fish farm on the groundwater. Several councillors including Mayor Rick Green are against the proposal.

“We had the hydrologist here and he went down 22 feet and found sand and gravel. The ponds are going 17 feet down so it won’t affect anyone’s aquifers,” said Ray. “We’ve always been good neighbours and this is something for us to make a living at.”

The Halvorsons bought the property at 753-264 Street six years ago and first looked into growing yew trees but it wasn’t that profitable. They then looked into growing loganberries but when they wanted to level the property, neighbours became upset, he said.

“This is the best we could do and it’s the greenest project using organic trout,” he said.

The property can’t be used for agriculture, he claims, because it is all gravel base. The last profitable farming that took place on the property was a large grow-op out of what was a turkey barn on the property.

“We’re not willing to go into that kind of business,” he said, jokingly.

The Halvorsons looked into neighbours’ concerns about the gravel extraction releasing arsenic into the groundwater supply.

“There is no such thing as arsenic in gravel or at least none of the research we’ve done and working with [DFO] and the Ministry of Environment. We’re not sure where they are basing this from,” he said.

The proposal has received approval in principle from the ALC already. The Halvorsons are hoping to get final approval soon but don’t have a date yet.

In this process, much like the Brown’s Pit proposal, the Township has no say on the matter. The provincial government is the only body with power to veto this project, if the ALC approves it.

The Halvorsons still hope the neighbours will sit down and talk with them so they can show them how the project is going to be a benefit to their community.

“In our minds it was going to be a real plus for the community,” said Ray. “We aren’t taking any short cuts.”

Elaine said the ponds will be double lined both with clay and fibre liner.

“Nothing is going in or being taken out,” she said. They are using cray fish to eat most of the waste and have already contracted with a waste removal company to take the rest.

They have also hired a horticulturalist to do landscaping for the property, including 300 cedars to be planted plus the creation of wetlands with aquatic plants to purify the water, he said. They also plan to raise some of the feed for the trout while using organic green pellets too. The entire project will take a few years. The fourth pond Ray wants to set aside for community fishing.

“Locals could fly fish there,” he said.

Neighbour Michelle Nicholls, who organized a meeting to rally against the project, said she is concerned about the potential effects on water supplies.

Halvorson’s property is elevated above the neighbouring ones, which she said could cause environmental contaminants infecting nearby wells. But the Halvorsons feel their wells are safe.

According to Nicholls’ calculations, only 64,000 cubic metres of gravel would need to be removed to make way for the ponds.

Halvorson’s proposal calls for the removal of 147,000 cubic metres of gravel.

The ALC requires the Halvorsons to put all the revenue from the gravel extraction back into the fish farm operation.