Movement of soil investigated

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

During the summer, advertisements offering free soil or free clean fill can often be found. It is also the season the developers get busy. New developments often remove top soil, build and then redistribute soil once the buildings are completed. Often, they have to bring in additional soil to finish off the project.
Wheatland County’s Agricultural Service Board (ASB) is questioning whether there needs to be more scrutiny on soil coming into the county.
“The movement of soil into Wheatland County poses a risk and has drawn attention to the greater context of soil movement in our region,” stated Wheatland County staff in their report to the ASB on July 3.
The report indicates fungus spores, such as clubroot, weed infestations and soil quality deterioration could be the unhappy consequence of soil brought into the county from other areas. Surrounding counties have clubroot, but it has not been reported in Wheatland County so far. Clubroot causes premature death of canola plants. The fungus spreads quickly and results in large financial losses for farmers, and it is complicated to eradicate.
Weeds can also have an economic impact. Staff suggested incoming soil should be inspected for prohibited and noxious weeds before they get a chance to grow and spread to wider areas.
Sometimes landowners will bring fill in to level out small depressions on their cropland and officials think it can affect wetlands by modifying drainage patterns. There are a few people cited in the county by Alberta Environment for contravening regulations.
Incoming soil may have chemicals, heavy metals or prohibited organic matter that can cause health and environmental problems. Extreme pH in the incoming soil may make the soil too acidic or alkaline.
Wheatland County staff suggested that oversight could help educate residents and remove the chance of breaking government regulations.
Some municipalities develop bylaws to monitor soil movement and mitigate the loss. Staff asked for direction whether they should research changes in Wheatland County policy that could be directed to Wheatland County council for approval. Council directed staff to get more information and present it to the ASB in October, which would then be directed to council for decision.