[ Previous | Previous in Thread | Next ]
Posted by Mercedes McKay on Thursday, 19 November 1998, at 4:34 p.m., in response to To Belgium and high nitrate levels, posted by Fremont Intermediate on Tuesday, 10 November 1998, at 2:49 p.m.
This is the response from Koninklijk Antheneum Tienen which they agreed to have me post here so others could see:
Belgium, and specially Flanders, has a very high rate of fertilizer use on the fields. That's why our nitrate readings are so high. Our water is saturated by all kinds of fertilizer going from dung to chemical products. People concerned with the environment like us want the farmers to diminish their breeding of cattle (cows, pigs, chickens). Some ministres are also concerned with this problem and have had some serious discussions in the parliament.But the most important farmer organisation "De Boerenbond" has a lot of political power in our country and that's why farmers are still allowed to enlarge their livestock and our fields and rivers are tortured with nitrates and phosphates => high eutrophication rate.