Man settles lawsuit against Graceland

by bill o'brien
bobrien@record-eagle.com

May 22, 2008 04:00 am

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TRAVERSE CITY -- A lawsuit prompted by illegal dumping of blueberry waste from Graceland Fruit Inc. is settled, but details remain under wraps because state sanctions have yet to be ironed out.

Charles Brozofsky settled his lawsuit against Graceland and Bonney Bros. Pumping Co. over environmental damage to a small stream on his Benzie County farm in 2002.

But a consent agreement is still being negotiated with the state Attorney General's office following a probe into illegal dumping of thousands of gallons of blueberry waste.

"At this point, I can tell you we've settled the case," Brozofsky's attorney Chris Bzdok said Tuesday. "Our agreement piggybacks with the state."

Brozofsky filed suit almost three years ago, and Bzdok said the case formally was dismissed last month in 19th Circuit Court. He would not disclose specifics of the agreement until the state resolves its case with Graceland and Bonney Bros., which state officials expect will happen soon.

"We anticipate settlement in the near future," said Rusty Hills, a spokesman for state Attorney General Mike Cox.

Bzdok said the deal will include monetary damages for Brozofsky, a cleanup plan to address contamination and a "natural resources damages component" requiring the two companies to take other, unspecified environmental measures.

Brozofsky discovered the contamination in late 2002 while searching for a lost cow. The blueberry waste seeped into the creek and created an orange tint and foul odor.

State Department of Environmental Quality officials investigated and traced the contamination to blueberry waste illegally dumped into a gravel pit upstream from Brozofsky's property. DEQ investigators sought criminal charges against Graceland and Kevin Bonney of Bonney Bros., both based in Benzie County, but Cox's office instead decided to negotiate civil penalties with the polluters.

That consent agreement has been in the works for more than a year.

"Those things never go as quickly or smoothly as one would expect them to," Hills said. "Those sorts of situations can be very thorny, with multiple individuals involved."

Graceland CEO Donald Nugent could not be reached for comment. His son Steve Nugent, who also works for the company, wouldn't discuss the matter.

"I really don't have any comment for you ... you're going to print whatever you want," he said.

An attorney for Bonnie Bros., Gina Bozzer of Traverse City, also declined to discuss settlement details, but said she's glad the dispute is nearing a final resolution.

"Anytime you can settle litigation short of the time and stress it takes to go to trial, it's a win-win situation for both parties," Bozzer said. "It was quite a complex matter."

Brozofsky said the tainted creek still hasn't recovered.

"It looks about like it did 4-5 years ago ... there'll be issues for a long time there," Brozofsky said. "They've created a mess and it's going to take time to clean it up."