Who can help when a neighbour leaks oil onto your land?
That’s what George Hodges is asking, and he’s getting little support from the powers that be. This past November, oil started pouring into Hodges’ yard adjacent to Young Street in Bonfield. It came from the neighbour’s sump pump line, which runs through their front yard, under their driveway, until it rears its head on the far edge of Hodges’ front yard.
“He’s directing water into my front yard,” Hodges said. “It just goes right through the yard because there’s not a proper ditch” next to the road. What ‘ditch’ is there, “is my yard,” so the water flows freely across the green, mostly cutting a diagonal swath, starting from the road’s side of the yard kitty-corner to the other side of the land.
Since moving in six years ago, Hodges has been asking the town to move the sump pump line. The water damaged his property, flooded his basement – requiring much renovation – and wreaked havoc on the landscaping.
It’s bad enough when it’s water. When the oil came, the nightmare truly began.
Hodges detailed that last November the pump started pumping oil into his yard. He figured the neighbour’s basement oil tank ruptured, and the pump kept purging into Hodges’ yard, now with more oil than water.
Insurance companies became involved, and Hodges was told by his that the neighbour’s insurance would take care of the mess. The insurance paid for a crew to come out and remove the oil. Workers dug out along that diagonal flow line – where Hodges had already laid pipe to improve drainage – and added a swath of rocks where the water (and oil) pools on the property’s edge.
That marshy area is about three hundred yards through the bush across from the Fire Hall, which sits close to Lake Nosbonsing. Hodges worries that oil will make its way to the lake, “because it’s going to go somewhere.”
He explained that some remediation was also done at the neighbour’s where the leak occurred. He figures the damage was extensive as the house remains unoccupied. Hodges was told the insurance company is paying to put up the residents in a rental.
Still, the sump pump purrs, sending more fluids Hodges’ way.
“My understanding is that the furnace dumped about 100 gallons of fuel into that crawl space,” where the sump-pump remains.
This past March, the Township of Bonfield responded to Hodges regarding the November oil leak. The letter explained the Township “has chosen to take a neutral standpoint at this time,” because the town felt it is “a homeowner dispute” between Hodges and his neighbour, “and should be dealt with between the two parties.”
Not so, Hodges emphasized, explaining that it is the township’s responsibility to enforce the Drainage Act, provincial laws outlining that you can’t direct water onto someone else’s property. It’s illegal to do so.
The Township does not agree with Hodges’ take on the Drainage Act. Alex Hackenbrook, the town’s Public Works Manager, wrote to Hodges this past April 15.
“The Township believes that your statement regarding the Drainage Act is incorrect and that the Township is not contravening the Drainage Act,” Hackenbrook wrote. “Perhaps in this instance, there has been drainage installed on private property that is and/or was causing the issue due to being installed on low-lying land within the boundaries of your property. I trust this will resolve the matter.”
It hasn’t, Hodges knows too well.
The insurance company is supposed to send another crew to fix his yard this spring or summer, but Hodges’ main concern is that the oil is still there, still seeping to God knows where, and nobody seems concerned enough to help. The Township remains hands-off, and he can’t get a response from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
That’s not the worst of it.
The large tree closest to the oil spill has died. His little dog got into the oil, and now he’s passed away. He can’t drink from his well and buys bottled water for cooking and drinking. “I don’t even think I should be showering in it,” he said.
He’s sold his boat to help fund the fight to clear the oil. He’s already had to hire a lawyer, and he may have to pay for an environmental study as well. Perhaps more lawyer fees. He plans to sell his old Jaguar, a car that lights up his eyes, to fund the cause.
Don’t let the Jag fool you, he’s not rich. “I’m a 70-year-old on a pension,” he said while detailing how frustrating the entire situation has been. Before the oil spill, he had planned to sell his home – the sign leans against his front porch, tucked just out of sight from the road – “How saleable is my house now?”
Hodges wants the sump pump line moved so it doesn’t run into his land. That’s the easiest solution, he kept emphasizing. Further, “they have to do something with my water. I want things cleaned up.”
“If I see oil seeping out of the ground when it’s raining, it ain’t clean.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
