Three Lambton County municipalities are facing hearings at the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board.

And the hearings mean a pile of biosolids in Dawn-Euphemia, which was supposed to be removed by March 20, isn’t going anywhere for a while.

Mayor Al Broad says a numbered company has filed for a hearing at the Normal Farm Practices Board against the municipal bylaw limiting the stockpiling of fertilizer.

Neighbours started voicing concern in February when Lasalle Agri started bringing truckloads of the fertilizer which has be approved for use by the federal and provincial governments.

The Buurma family owns the land and Lasalle Agri which markets the biosolids fertilizer. Officials with the company told the township the fertilizer was for eight, 150-acre farms they were renting. But the stockpiling of fertilizer of any kind isn’t allowed under the township’s zoning bylaws.

Council gave the Buurmas and Lasalle Agri until March 20 to move the pile. It is still there today and Broad isn’t sure how long it will be there. He says a hearing will have to be held before anything happens. T

he Normal Farm Practices Board has suspended hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not clear when any hearing might be held.

Warwick Township and Brooke-Alvinston have similar zoning bylaws. Those municipalities were also served with notice of the hearing.