Day 090 - 16 Feb 95 - Page 56


     
     1   Q.   What is that advice?
     2        A.  The advice is given by the manager who is responsible
     3        for the environment/index.html">litter sales, and it will depend on the farmer's
     4        requirement how much he can actually spread, and it will
     5        depend on the NPK requirements for his land.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  When was the watershed, do you think, of
     8        awareness?
     9        A.  I think the awareness probably occurred about five
    10        years ago when it became apparent that the nitrate levels
    11        in water supplies were rising significantly.  I think this
    12        was first noticed in East Anglia and has progressed across
    13        the country.  It is quite obvious that nitrate and nitrogen
    14        have been accumulating in borehole and ground water
    15        courses.
    16
    17   MS. STEEL:  Is it not inevitable that there are going to be dead
    18        chickens remaining in the environment/index.html">litter when it is cleared out
    19        whether or not they are fully grown ones or quite young
    20        ones that got buried early on?
    21        A.  I do not see why it should be inevitable.  If the
    22        management is conscientious in removing carcasses, it is
    23        something that should be done by walking the sheds three or
    24        four times a day at least, I do not see why it should be
    25        inevitable.
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  How deep is the environment/index.html">litter?  At 52 days there it
    28        is, you have described its texture, is it a fairly even
    29        depth across the floor of the unit?
    30        A.  Yes.  We start off with an inch, one inch to two
    31        inches.  We aim to finish with about four inches.
    32
    33   MS. STEEL:  Have you still got the FAWC report there?
    34        A.  Yes.
    35
    36   Q.   Actually I want to turn to the paper that is just behind
    37        that.  Tab 28.  If you could turn to page 478 of that
    38        document, please, in the right-hand column on that page,
    39        have you got a marking on the side?
    40        A.  Yes, I have.
    41
    42   Q.   Do you see that paragraph there, if you could just read the
    43        first sentence?
    44        A.  Yes, I have done that.
    45
    46   Q.   Would you accept that?
    47        A.  I think that is somebody's opinion of poultry houses
    48        that he has experience of.
    49
    50   Q.   Do you know any of the authors of this? 
    51        A.  No, I do not. 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The date of that, 1990.
    54
    55   MS. STEEL:  Is it not right that meat from animals that have
    56        been exposed to a source of botulinum toxin should be
    57        considered a potential health risk to humans or animals if
    58        the meat has not been cooked properly?
    59        A.  Certainly if it has not been cooked properly.  I think
    60        in this case this describes actual mortality in dairy cows,

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