'Will change the lake': Residents worry about proposed feedlot operation near Pigeon Lake, Alta.
Residents south of Edmonton are concerned about a proposed feedlot near Pigeon Lake.
Despite the long weekend, an information session Saturday night drew a large crowd that was eager to learn the risks of the proposal and what can be done about it.
Martin Klatt, a farmer on the west shore of Pigeon Lake, said the long weekend didn't deter anyone from coming to hear how the development could harm the lake's water quality and cause other issues.
"It was quiet, peaceful and clean," he told CTV News Edmonton. "It was just the way we wanted to live, and that's going to change big time.
"It already has somewhat, but now when they put in three times the amount of cattle that are there now, I think it's going to be almost unbearable," Klatt said.
According to the Pigeon Lake Watershed Association, there would be no way to manage the feedlot properly and negate any environmental impacts.
"The proposed confined feeding operation is an industrial scale agricultural operation that will produce nutrients, phosphorus primarily, that will change the lake creating more problems with harmful algal blooms and impacting all the users of Pigeon Lake," said Robert Gibbs, Pigeon Lake Watershed Association president.
Concerned residents living near Pigeon Lake, Alta., attended an information session on Saturday, May 22, 2022, to hear about a proposed feedlot (CTV News Edmonton/Sean McClune).
"With harmful algal blooms and degradation of water quality, peoples' health is impacted," he added. "We don't think there's any beneficial management practices that would really offset that amount of nutrients coming into the lake."
The feedlot applicant declined to comment to CTV News Edmonton.
The group leading the fight against the feedlot believes the proposal will get the approvals it needs to move forward with the project. Either way, they're preparing a case to have it stopped.
"In the court of common sense, this should be denied," said Jeannette Hall, an organizer with Families Impacted by the Pigeon Lake Feedlot.
"But, because I'm aware of the policy framework and the problems in the legislation, it's most likely, if we were to bet, I'd say it's going to go through, so that means we're likely to do an appeal," Hall added.
No timeline is set for a decision.
The region relies on the lake during the summer season for tourism and recreation, Gibbs said. In his view, the only option is to find another location for the feedlot — far away from the water.
"(If approved), they can't let their children go out, or their pets go out into the water, and it impacts the long-term plans that people have for their cottages and their daily use of the shore," Gibbs said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Images taken deep inside melted Fukushima reactor show damage, but leave many questions unanswered
Images taken by miniature drones from deep inside a badly damaged reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant show displaced control equipment and misshapen materials but leave many questions unanswered, underscoring the daunting task of decommissioning the plant.
DEVELOPING February inflation rate slows to 2.8% as price growth unexpectedly eases
Canada's annual inflation rate unexpectedly fell to 2.8 per cent last month, amid sharp declines in cellular and internet services as well as slower grocery price growth.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.