The District of
Coldstream and a dairy farmer have both received fines after pleading
guilty in a water contamination incident more than two years ago.
Manure spread onto a field in Lavington got into the Antwerp Springs
source in January 2010 which was caused by a unusual weather event of
warm weather combined with heavy rain. The fallout led to a week-long Do
Not Drink the Water order for 1,800 residents. There were no proven
cases of illness tied to the incident, although one girl got sick, was
treated and recovered. Under a joint sentencing deal, Rod Palfrey and
his company Pan-o-Ramic Farms pled guilty to introducing waste that
caused pollution under the Environmental Management Act. Palfrey was
fined two-thousand dollars, and will also contribute 14-thousand dollars
to the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund. The District of Coldstream
--which operated the water system--pled guilty to failure to provide
potable water under the Water Protection Act and was fined 16-thousand
dollars. A 30 per cent victim surcharge was also added to the fine,
making the total $18,400. In a statement released by Coldstream, Mayor
Jim Garlick stated despite the guilty plea and fine, "the District
believes that it had acted with due diligence in operating the well and
that extraordinary external circumstances interfered with the
District's ability to provide potable water. He goes on to say, "It is
important that the public know that Coldstream Council strongly believe
that we would have been completely successful in defending ourselves
on all four of the charges against the District. However, proving our
case in a lengthy and complex trial could have cost substantially more.
Coldstream Council therefore did not believe that defending this
charge in court would be a prudent use of taxpayers' dollars."
The Regional District of North Okanagan--which owned and managed
the system--is fighting the similiar charges it faces, with a trial set
for next January.
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