Following a court bulletin from the Government of Ontario about the town of Atikokan being found to have violated the Ontario Water Resources Act, Doug Judson, partner of the law firm JudsonHowie LLP, released a statement on behalf of his client, Mellissa Bates, a victim of Atikokan’s violations. According to the released statement from JudsonHowie, “The Town of Atikokan refused to take responsibility for the damage caused to Ms. Bates’ home” because the Town of Atikokan “failed to comply with its own operating procedures.” Moreover, the Government of Ontario confirms the Corporation of the Town of Atikokan was convicted of two violations totalling $75,000 in fines and victim fine surcharges under the Ontario Water Resources Act.
“In April and July 2022, the Town of Atikokan’s negligent operation of its pumping stations resulted in two consecutive sewer backups into Ms. Bates’ home. At the time of the second flood event, Ms. Bates had already incurred significant costs making repairs after the first flood,” reads the statement from Judson. “For the two years which followed, the Town of Atikokan refused to take responsibility for the damage caused to Ms. Bates’ home. As a result, our firm brought a civil action against the municipality in April 2024. Ms. Bates’ out-of-pocket damages and losses for the destroyed property and repairs to her home are substantial.”
While Bates suffered the damages, the Town of Atikokan denied her request for a backflow prevention valve described by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
“Ms. Bates is a foster mom of modest means,” reads Judson’s statement. “Her ability to offer a safe and healthy home to the children in her care is integral to her livelihood. Yet the Town has repeatedly refused to offer Ms. Bates the exact type of backflow prevention valve described in the Ministry’s release. Ms. Bates lives right next door to a deficient pumping station that has been allowed to destroy her basement twice.”
Moreover, Judson’s statement suggests the issue is because of a failure to comply with operating procedures and improper programming at pumping stations.
“The Town of Atikokan has continued to deny liability to Ms. Bates, despite municipal records confirming that it failed to comply with its own operating procedures and that automated responses at its pumping stations were not properly programmed to respond to high water levels in April 2022. It subsequently failed to make any adjustments to its operations by July 2022, despite recommendations from its technical advisors to do so.”
So, the first set of penalties was imposed on the Town of Atikokan on February 23, 2024, including a fine of “$50,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $12,500,” according to the Ontario government’s court bulletin. Afterwards, the Town of Atikokan was again found to have violated the Ontario Water Resources Act on October 4th, and fined $10,000 plus another victim fine surcharge of $2,500.
“In February 2018, the Ministry [of Environment, Conservation and Parks] issued a Director’s Order to the Town [of Atikokan] requiring it to complete upgrades to the sewage works. The upgrades were designed to prevent surcharging of the system, which had resulted in sewage backups into basements and overflows of untreated sewage into the Atikokan River.”
While Atikokan did complete the required upgrades, it was not until after the deadline set out by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks had already lapsed.
“The town completed the required upgrades to the sewage pumping stations however the work was not completed until six months after the deadline,” reads the statement from the Ontario government. “The town installed only some of the backflow preventers required by the [Director’s] Order. Further, the backflow preventers were installed over a two-year period following the compliance deadline in the Order.”
