Owners of farming business testify in day 2 of fish kill retrial

Two members of a family-run Island farming operation testified in their own defence Wednesday during day two of a trial in connection to a 2014 fish kill.

Brookfield Gardens is charged under Canada's Fisheries Act after more than 1,000 fish were found dead in P.E.I.'s North River after a big rainfall in August 2014. 

The company was acquitted in 2015, but that decision was later overturned, leading to the second trial. 

Previous environmental infractions

During Wednesday's proceedings court heard about the company's previous environmental infractions, which were in the same field of carrots that are at the centre of the trial. 

Those infractions — to which the company pleaded guilty — included planting a crop on land that is too steep, and disturbing a buffer zone. They were discovered in 2014 as part of the provincial investigation at the time into the fish kill.

Court heard testimony Wednesday from Travis and Gerald Dykerman about what they did. 

Travis Dykerman testified that the carrot field was on land they had leased from a neighbour.

Part of the existing buffer zone wasn't wide enough, so Dykerman said he planted sorghum grass in it, in an effort to meet provincial regulations — something the prosecution asserted Brookfield Gardens shouldn't have done.

Environmental protection measures in place, owner testifies

The prosecutors also told court one of the pesticides used by Brookfield Farms was not recommended for use where runoff is likely. Travis Dykerman testified he was aware of that fact.

The prosecution said the buffer zone on the carrot field contained erosion-prone gullies. 

Gerald Dykerman testified Brookfield Gardens has an environmental protection plan in place and has been installing erosion-control measures on its fields for decades, as well as working with local watershed groups to improve fish habitat.

But under cross examination, Dykerman testified Brookfield Gardens had no plans to install berms or other protective measures on the carrot field, because the land was leased and did not belong to their company.

Gerald Dykerman also said under cross examination that if he'd known then what he knows now about that field, he wouldn't have used it.

The trial is set to conclude with closing arguments on Thursday. 

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