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December 15, 2005Dumping suit to proceedBEULAH - A lawsuit will proceed against two Benzie County companies accused of damaging a local farm and stream by dumping blueberry waste in a nearby gravel pit.Benzie County Circuit Judge James Batzer on Wednesday agreed to allow attorneys for Charles Brozofsky to file an amended lawsuit against Graceland Fruit Inc. and Bonney Bros. Pumping Co. Batzer also refused Graceland attorneys' efforts to ban Brozofsky's lawyers from publicly commenting on the lawsuit. The Benzonia Township farmer alleges blueberry waste from Graceland that was dumped in a gravel pit owned by Bonney Bros. near his farm in 2002 ended up in the groundwater and polluted a stream on his property. "Graceland knew what they were doing and they knew it was wrong," said Mike Grant, of Traverse City, an attorney for Brozofsky. Attorney Ronald DeWaard argued Graceland was not liable for the conduct of Bonney Bros. Bonney worked as an independent contractor hauling the waste for the fruit company. "There was no such contracting for this to go into the gravel pit," DeWaard said. Batzer agreed to allow new pleadings in the case, but he questioned Brozofsky's attorneys on whether Graceland was responsible for the waste-dumping since Bonney was hired as an independent contractor. "Isn't that why we hire someone else?" Batzer asked. Brozofsky's attorneys argued Graceland "knew or should have known" their product could be hazardous to the environment if not properly handled. "This was a completely foreseeable harm," Grant said. Graceland's efforts to gag Brozofsky's attorneys stemmed from remarks made by attorney Christopher Bzdok to the Record-Eagle in a November story about the contamination dispute. "I would just say if you're involved in litigation, be careful what you say," Batzer said. "Let's try not to be inflammatory." See Related Stories: [an error occurred while processing this directive] |