On November 20 (1998), Martha Kostuch celebrated a small victory.
The outspoken and tireless champion of cattle farmers battling pollution got a copy of a new report from Alberta Agriculture which provides evidence that industrial emissions harm livestock. The report resulted from an investigation by members of the Alberta Research Council, Dr. M.S. Mostrom and C.A.J. Campbell, on the effects of Shell Canada's January 1994 pipeline leak on animal health. The researchers examined two herds exposed to air pollution from the leak and cleanup. They discovered runny eyes and noses, respiratory problems, poor appetites, changes in maternal behavior and death. The investigators wrote that they associated "immune dysfunction with exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons."

Kostuch, a veterinarian in the idyllic central Alberta community of Rocky Mountain House, has waged war on the industrial polluters since the mid-1970s. Her voice, with its trace of a mid-Western twang, has rung out from the back of countless community halls and city meeting rooms where she has spoken out about the effects of pollution on humans and animals. Her dogged determination to hold the oil and gas industry accountable has made her enemies.

It has won her a legion of devoted friends and admirers. Many are cattle farmers grateful that she not only listens to them but is willing to spend practically every waking moment boning up on issues, organizing working groups or hounding the authorities. Each time "sour" natural gas laced with hazardous hydrogen-sulphide is flared as waste from a well, people and animals living nearby are exposed to more than 250 chemicals, many of which have proven toxic. "We're talking about a chemical soup," says Kostuch. It has worried her for a nearly a quarter of a century. ...

(Kostuch) began to notice the Alberta herds had disproportionately higher occurrences of health problems than Minnesota herds she had cared for. Alberta animals had increased susceptibility to infectious diseases and reproductive problems. There were higher numbers of "downer" animals, or cattle that cannot rise to a standing position. She recorded increased instances of pink eye, foot rot and pneumonia and lengthened periods between calves.

The principal industry operations at the time in the Rocky Mountain House area were the Gulf Strachan Plant, which until 1982 was licensed to emit 29.2 metric tonnes of sulphur a day and the Ram River Plant, which was licensed to emit 93.5 metric tonnes of sulphur a day. ...

Kostuch organized an international workshop on effects of acid-forming emissions on livestock with two government scientists. Dr. R.W. Coppock, head of the clinical investigation branch, and Dr. Len Lillie, director, of the Alberta Environmental Centre's animal sciences division in Vegreville, led the proceedings, which drew 54 American and Canadian veterinarians, toxicologists, epidemiologists and cattle farmers. All reported the same problems in cattle exposed to hydrocarbon emissions.

A Drayton Valley farmer, Cliff Whitelock, described devastating effects from the Lodgepole well blowout in October of 1982. His cattle were exposed to raw sour gas for 27 days. He recorded the weaning weights of his calves and found that they were significantly lower after the blow-out. He said, "Any effect sour gas has in decreasing the market weight of a calf costs the farmer money. If I were not an established producer, the blowout would have put me out of business." He received $30,000 in compensation, just 20% of his estimate of his lost income.

... "She's an excellent vet," said Sundre farmer Wayne Johnston. "
She encourages good nutrition and preventive medicine." In the last few years, Johnston's cattle have had problems. "When Shell flares, a day later my cows will come down with runny noses and bad eyes." He described the effect of a December 1995 flare. "The flare was out and just starting to stink. A hundred of the calves had bad eyes, conjuctivitis. They couldn't see to eat. They lost 50 to 100 pounds each. Some of them never did recover their sight."

The Johnstons say Kostuch's help has been invaluable to many.
"The average farmer doesn't know who to go to for problems," said Wayne. "Farmers don't have time. She has been that person. She knows who to phone, who to get in touch with." His wife Ila added, "She will listen to you. That's where Martha shines."

At the 1986 workshop, Lillie described a "malaise of mutual distrust" between industry, government and farmers. He called for an organized, co-ordinated and planned approach by a team of professionals. Kostuch has repeated Lillie's call many times: "There needs to be methods in place to take action to resolve the problem," she says. She points to multiple studies and reports that include no practical recommendations for action.

In 1985, the Alberta government formed the Government-Industry Acid Deposition Research Program, an $11-million project to address consequences of acid-forming emissions on the environment. ... resulted in a two-foot thick study which is gathering dust ... a steering committee organized by the Alberta Cattle Commission to make recommendations for followup to a report titled Cattle and the Gas and Oil Industry in Alberta.

... Despite her two decades of work on the issues and the fact that she represents numerous concerned stakeholders, Kostuch was not invited to join the committee. One member said the reason was that she brought neither money nor powerful backers to the table. ...

Energy INDEX

Pages-by-Topic

AF4H Energy ONLINE