Combine at dusk

Combine at dusk

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Berendsen case settles just days before Supreme Court of Canada hearing

The case by Ben Berendsen, a Bruce County dairy farmer, against Ontario's Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has settled after 17 years of litigation.  In 2008, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded Berendsen $1.7 million in damages related to the effects of contamination left on his farm property by the MTO during a road construction in the 1960's.  In 2009, the damages award was set aside by the Court of Appeal.  Now comes word that the case has been settled as between Berendsen and the MTO.  The hearing before the Supreme Court was to take place yesterday, January 28.  The appeal has now been discontinued. 

Better Farming has reported on the settlement, though it appears that there must be a confidentiality agreement in place: Books shut on Berendsen case.  Neither Berendsen nor the MTO were willing to say much about it.

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