Brookfield Gardens loses long legal battle over fish kill

Brookfield Gardens has been found guilty of a violation of the Fisheries Act, in connection with a fish kill on the North River in August 2014.

In the decision, handed down Friday in Charlottetown Provincial Court, Judge John Douglas ruled the family owned farming operation failed to exercise due diligence.

It is not a defense to state that proper measures were not feasible.— Judge John Douglas

More than 1,000 fish were found dead in the North River following a heavy rain in August 2014. Investigators at the time found pesticides had washed into the water from a carrot crop planted by Brookfield Gardens on a field that had been leased from a neighbour.

"It is not a defence to state that proper measures were not feasible," Douglas told court in handing down the decision.

"One measure was to not plant row crops at all when environmental risk could not be properly addressed."

Friday's decision follows a lengthy legal battle for Brookfield Farms. The company had previously been found not guilty, but that decision was overturned by the P.E.I. Court of Appeal, and a new trial was ordered.

The judge told court he will take the long and costly court battle — as well as the "publicity" it generated — into consideration when he hands down a fine to Brookfield Gardens next month.

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