The Rural Voice, 1994-01, Page 24Mutual Fire Insurance Company
264 HURON ROAD
SEBRINGVILLE, ONTARIO
393-6402
1-800-263-1961
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DOWNIE MUTUAL
INSURANCE
COMPANY
FARM, RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
AGENTS
Ken Hutchinson 273-2458 Robert Ready 393-6965
Doug Jacob 271-7894 R. Allan Fuller 271-6176
BROKERS
McMaster Siemon Insurance Brokers 348-9150
F. A. Campbell & Son Insurance 348-8425
William Dietz Insurance 656-2585
Whitehead & Watkins Insurance 271-6940
Stonetown Insurance Brokers 284-3321
"Serving The Community For Over 100 Years."
FARM & MUNICIPAL
DRAINAGE
Specializing in:
• Farm & Municipal Drainage
• Clay & Plastic Tile Installations
• Backhoe & Dozer Service
• Septic System Installations
For Quality, Experience, & Service call;
.
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PARKER
PARKER
Wayne Cook
(519) 236-7390
R.R.2 Zurich, Ont.
NOM 2T0
24 THE RURAL VOICE
issues by all parties." (On March 1,
1993 Buchanan sent a letter to the
Berendsens promising to supply
water,at government expense, for a
further three months.)
Berendsen bridles slightly at the
advice he's had not to seek
publicity because of concern
for the reputation of all food and for
the sake of other farmers. If food
safety is such a concern, shouldn't
the government be pressured into
acting more quickly? "Is the food
safety issue not more important than
money, than the economy? Is life
possible when we don't have safe
food and water on the table?"
The health issue has hit close to
home. Berendsen says he spent time
in University Hospital in London
where spots were discovered on his
liver. "The fear that you have those
chemicals in your system, that can
cause cancer," he says emotionally.
"All that fear for the rest of your
life!" And if not fear for your own
life, then for your children. One
daughter suffered hair loss while the
family was still drinking water from
the cistern system.
In the Berendsen garage sits a pile
of water containers now used to bring
in a safe water supply for the family.
They stopped drinking water from
the cistern when an oily film was
found floating on the top of the water
this past spring. The pressure exerted
by the high water table in the old
swampy area is forcing the oil
through the porous walls of the
cistern and contaminating the water
that had been carefully (and
expensively) trucked in by the
government.
This spring, as the water table
rose, an oily film could be seen even
on the top of puddles in the yard
(Berendsen has a video showing the
oil not only in the cistern and on the
puddles but seeping up through the
floor of the milk house which had
been built on the fill.).
The government stopped
providing water to the farm on
June 15, 1993. Berendsen
doesn't trust the cistern any more so
draws 2500 gallons of water in a
large tank from a neighbour's stream,
then waters the cattle in above-
ground tanks. He has fenced the
cattle out of the drainage ditch so
they can't drink the water there.