YORKTON, Sask. – David Biesenthal’s penchant for writing things down turned out to be his saving grace during the investigation of one of Canada’s deadliest water contamination cases.
Biesenthal farms at Walkerton, Ont., metres away from the infamous Well 5. An E. coli outbreak in the water supplied by that well killed seven people and sickened hundreds more in early 2000.
His farming practices quickly came under scrutiny, but an investigation found that he followed proper procedures when he spread manure on his nearby field.
Biesenthal believes his environmental farm plan and documentation of what he does each day on his farm were invaluable.
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He said those leery of these plans should rethink their position.
“When this situation happened in Walkerton and we were targeted … at least knowing I’d done an environmental farm plan gave me some confidence,” Biesenthal told the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association. “It says to the public you’re doing everything you can.”
Biesenthal, who runs a small cow-calf operation with his son and plants 1,500 acres to corn, soybeans, wheat and other crops, is also a veterinarian.
As a vet, he always keeps good records. That transferred to his farming operation.
“I’m a record freak,” he said.
When investigators came calling, he was able to provide a list of everything he had done in the previous two years. That included which crop inputs and fertilizers he had used, yield records, how much manure he spread per acre and soil analysis results.
Biesenthal said it took two days initially to complete his environmental farm plan. As a result he had to move his fuel tanks and improve the eavestrough on his barns.
It didn’t cost him a lot of money, although he recognizes that some farmers may have bigger, more expensive changes to make.
It also gave him peace of mind when investigators and national media were crawling over his property. There was no privacy and no way to refuse entry. Biesenthal said the situation highlighted how vulnerable and exposed farmers are.
He also said authorities have some responsibility to tell farmers what they are doing.
He lived for years “two football fields” from the well without knowing it was there. The well was covered in scrub brush and the family learned of its existence only after the first death.
Although manure contamination was listed as the cause of the E. coli, Biesenthal said he remains puzzled by that. Runoff would have had to travel uphill to get directly into the well, and that has been discounted. Tainted water may have seeped through the ground and into the well, but Biesenthal said there was no manure in the yard at that time.
It’s always quick and easy to blame the farmer in these situations, Biesenthal said. Today he feels like he is farming in a fishbowl, but he hopes his experience will help farmers see the value in environmental plans.
