NOTRA was contracted by Continental Mushroom Corporation to assist the company in achieving compliance with Ontario Ministry of the Environment legislation. The main thrust of this project has been to develop a solution to the company’s challenges associated with the discharge of pesticide contaminated wastewater. NOTRA has been successful in developing a wastewater management system that eliminates all wastewater generated in the process by reusing it in the production of compost. This process has passed the trial stages and has been approved for full-scale implementation by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
NOTRA is addressing all other aspects of environmental management for Continental Mushroom through implementation of the Environmental Farm Plan. This is an internationally acclaimed program initiated by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and several other agriculture/environment stakeholders. Specifically, NOTRA was responsible for:
Monitoring selected locations on the farm to identify sources of contamination;
Producing a portion of the farm’s compost using recycled water originating from the mushroom growing houses;
Testing the trial compost for pesticide content;
Growing mushroom crops in the trial compost;
Testing the mushroom crops for compliance with Federal legislation;
Developing plans for full-scale wastewater recycling; and
Applying for and obtaining approval from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for the proposed project.
