Once it was a farm that dreams might be built on – but those dreams turned into a nightmare for Holland immigrant Ben Berendsen and his family.
And receiving an award last week of $1.7-million in a lawsuit with provincial government after 14 years in the courts hardly seems like compensation to him for what he and his family went through.
On moving to Canada, Berendsen bought a 200 acre dairy farm just south of Teviotdale in 1981, and almost immediately, began having problems. He was unaware that in the 1960s, tonnes of asphalt were dumped near a municipal drain on his farm, close to the house’s well, and all that deteriorating asphalt was polluting his water.
Several of his cows became ill, many refused to drink from the creek, and several died. Milk production dramatically decreased, and cows that did produce milk passed on the pollution to their calves. Their meat also became too dangerous to eat, and doctors warned the family to stop drinking the water from the farm’s well.
He and his wife, Marie, and their three children soon began suffering, too. He himself got spots on his liver, and a daughter began losing her hair, just like the calves that were drinking the milk from cows who had drank the contaminated water.
Now, after 14 years in the courts, the family was awarded compensation by the Supreme Court. Ontario Superior Court judge Silja Seppe found that even if a private contractor had caused the pollution on the farm, it is the responsibility of the provincial government. It had hired the contractor that built the road and who dumped the waste from a nearby highway.
Berendsen said he eventually learned from the former owner of the property about the asphalt there, and where it was buried. The MTO and MOE had water trucked to the farm for a few years, and sent inspectors to the farm to test the water.
Berendsen, though, said their findings often conflicted with what his private tests indicated.
He noted, too, that when his cows were checked, the fat in them contained PCBs.
He and his family tracked down the man who took part in the burial of that road waste, and Berendsen said he learned the burial of waste went on two to three weeks. He estimated from what he learned that there was over 3,000 tonnes of buried asphalt in a stretch of 100- by 100 feet, 8- to 10-feet deep.’
He noted that provincial rules state that such wasted is not allowed to be buried within 100 metres of a river, or within 200 feet of a well. He said it is within 60 feet of the farm’s well, and another 60 feet from the drain that flows to the Maitland River.
Berendsen said of the family experience, “It was all going downhill – financially – and health wise.”
The Berendsens moved to a farm near Chepstow in the 1990s and started court action to recover their losses.
Berendsen said in an interview the family moved in the dead of winter, forced to sell by the Farm Credit Corporation, and he now thinks that was a good thing, because some of them gradually managed to get their health back. He did not wish to speak about some of their illnesses, noting that is a private matter.
The family managed to sell 100 acres, half their farm, with a condition that the new owner could not sue them for the pollution in the groundwater. He said they realized about 60% of the value of the land. He then had to finance his new farm 100 per cent, and had to rent it for nine months before he could even do that. The previous owner of the family’s new farm financed them for three years.
Berendsen said the old house and barn on County Road 7 were vandalized and goods were stolen from them, and while the family has been willing to sell the remaining land, there are no takers at any price. The copper wire was ripped from the barn, the phones and washroom fixtures disappeared, and even the front door, only a few years old was stolen from the house. The place has now been abandoned for nearly 18 years, and it looks it.
He added that neighbours were also resentful, mainly because their property values were dropping, too.
One way he can demonstrate the value of the farm dropped was to have his property taxes cut in half, and then reduced again by 25%. He said he has not paid property taxes for 18 years, and neither old Maryborough township now Mapleton Township have done anything to collect those taxes.
Normally, after three years of nonpayment of taxes, municipalities can seize a property, sell it for the taxes, and give the balance to the landowner. He believes it is telling that no one has done that in this case. He has paid no property taxes for 18 years.
Mapleton Director of Finance Mike Givens said in an interview that he is aware of the situation with unpaid taxes, but the township was waiting for a resolution to the court case. He said it likely would not discuss the issue until the appeal period is passed and that legal issue is settled.
Berendsen said the provincial government, more specifically the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Environment fought him in the courts for so long because they do not want to accept liability for polluted asphalt. From the 1950s into the 1970s, he said, paving companies that built roads in Ontario heavily used oil to make those roads smooth.
He said the result is miles of roads with PCBs and dioxin in them.
“Because of that, MTO is scared of so much asphalt in Ontario,” he charged. “That is the whole issue. They don’t want to be liable – but why should I be liable?”
Berendsen said Seppie noted in her ruling that provincial officials were “reckless” and that independent tests were ignored by provincial officials.
He said a number of provincial politicians at first became involved, but when they talked to the bureaucracy, they backed away. He added that the News media, too, accepted the word of government officials and dropped his case.
As for the $1.7-million in the award, and the province being ordered to pay his legal fees, Berendsen said he won’t count any cash until the cheque clears the bank.
The provincial government has until Feb. 15 to decide if it will appeal the ruling, and he doubts he will learn about its decision until close to 5pm that day. The following Monday is a new provincial holiday – Family Day. It remains to be seen if the Berendsens will be celebrating it.
