Alberta’s 2007 Water Act is getting its feet wet in court for the first time since it was proclaimed, says a Crown prosecutor who specializes in environmental charges.
Susan McRory is Crown prosecutor in the trial of Gull Lake resident Dale Andrew Mather, accused under Section 142 province’s Water Act of illegally removing vegetation from the shoreline in front of his home.
The charges stem from a series of incidents in August and September of 2009, during which it is alleged that Mather, 61, had a herbicide sprayed on reeds growing on the shoreline and then hired a backhoe to scrape the dead reeds and organic matter from the area.
The provincial government has prosecuted a number of people and companies under the Water Act, McRory said on Tuesday.
However, this is the first one to proceed to trial.
As a result, it will set a precedent for other cases to follow, McRory said in her opening statement to Judge Gordon Deck in Red Deer provincial court on Monday.
Witnesses in court on Tuesday include a neighbouring landowner who laid the initial complaint and the backhoe operator hired to perform the excavation.
Cabin owner Kimble Norman Sanderson of Edmonton said he and his father-in-law first noticed discoloured reeds while out for a visit on Aug. 11, 2009.
Sanderson said his father-in-law suspected that the reeds had been sprayed and urged him to lay a complaint with Alberta Environment.
Kimble said he was aware through newsletters to property owners that the summer village had been authorized to create beaches at some sites along the shoreline.
Backhoe operator Wayne Adrian said Mather had hired him to do some work on his property early in September of 2009, including digging a firepit, cutting down a sand berm and cleaning up the beach.
Adrian testified that he had been cleared three times by the village foreman, who told him it was OK to clean up the region as long as he didn’t go into the water.
Mather’s lawyer, Terry Dawe of Calgary, is to open his defence on Thursday morning.
The accused is not to be confused with Dale Peter Mather, former Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Innisfail.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com