An erosion problem

Article Photos

Having health problems can be difficult enough. Dealing with those problems while worrying about the river in your backyard consuming your house doesn't make things easier.

That is what Pat and Al Purdy have had to deal with for the past several years.

The Purdys moved to their home in Maple Ridge six years ago. At that time their home was about 50 feet from the river bank. Today, the river is only 30 feet away.

"We never heard of erosion before. We didn't know what it was. We found out though," Pat Purdy said.

To exacerbate the problem, both of the Purdys have dealt with health issues.

She has had a heart attack and a stroke, and had 13 operations. Her husband is battling cancer, and Pat said he has only weeks left to live.

She said she has considered moving back to Belleville, where the couple is originally from, but said the crime rate downstate has kept her from making the move. Instead, she would like to move into town to be closer to the places she needs to go, but said selling the home will be difficult.

"I was going to stay up here and sell this house and move closer to town," she said. "We just don't know what to do."

Before becoming ill, Al Purdy served on the Thunder Bay Watershed Council with Jerry Meek.

Meek said Purdy had tried to stake logs in the river bank to prevent erosion, but the river had pulled up the logs and the bank continued to erode.

Purdy said the erosion is particularly disconcerting following a hard rain, when large chunks of land are visibly missing.

Meek said the state views the issue as a personal one for the Purdys, but noted if their septic tank ends up being pulled in the river, it would be much more than a personal problem.

The erosion is so bad that it's a matter of when, not if, it reaches the house, Meek said.

"It might take 20 years to fall in the river, but presumably its going to happen sooner or later," he said.

He said the problem really stems from poor planning by Maple Ridge Township because it never should have allowed the house to be built there.

The watershed council is working with Huron Pines to see what can be done with the river.

Huron Pines Program Director Lisha Ramsdell said the Purdys' property is located at a bend in the river, and those areas are prone to erosion.

"It certainly doesn't affect just their property, but the whole bend of the river. It's certainly a multi-site issue," Ramsdell said.

She said the Huron Pines Technical Review Committee will look at the case and determine if it is something the organization will get invovled with. The committee's next meeting is in November.

If the committee decides to work with the Purdys, Ramsdell said it is hard to say what would be done. They could organize and work toward a solution to the erosion, or raise funds to pay for a project to be done to stop the erosion.

"It's really hard for me to say what our role would be," Ramsdell said.

Meek said fixing the problem is probably going to take money, and the watershed council is only an educational group that doesn't have funding for those types of projects.

Purdy can only hope something can be done quickly to save the home she and her husband have put so much money and work into.

"It's a beautiful home, but it's going to fall apart, it's going to go in the water," she said.

Sean Harkins can be reached via e-mail at sharkins@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.