Potash companies better start producing a lot more potash to cover the 400 +tons of potash per harbour -- to kill zebra mussels --throughout the world. If this is a solid and the only feasible treatment of zebras to date-this could deplete the stockpile of potash quickly and have some good effects on the price/ton of potash.

Conservation Minister Gord Mackintosh said the province knew it had to act if there was to be a "fighting chance" of keeping the mussels out of Lake Winnipeg. The potash plan will cost $500,000, but Mackintosh said it could save millions down the road if the mussels are eradicated.

"This is a difficult situation and the implications can be long-term," he said in the legislature Monday. "Where we do have some information about the prevalence of zebra mussels, (they) are treated according to the best science that is available."

The province is focusing on a long-term strategy to ensure the mussels don't take hold, he said.

"We'll ensure that the surveillance is increased."

But Conservative critic Shannon Martin said even though the government has spent $500,000 dumping 400 tonnes of potash in the harbours, he hasn't heard a long-term strategy to ensure the mussels don't return once the curtains are raised.

The province owns only two decontamination machines which hose down boats when they come out of the water and are able to detach the mussels, he said.

"There doesn't seem to be a plan to do followup," he said.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/potash-experiment-killed-zebra-mussels-at-infested-harbour-officials-say-1.1850908#ixzz35Er41h36