An inorganic fertilizer that allegedly rendered golf club greens unusable for four months is at the heart of a lawsuit launched November 28, 2011, in BC Supreme Court.
According to a statement of claim, Marine Drive Golf Club (MDGC) is seeking damages against the suppliers and distributor of a fertilizer called Nutri 14-3-3 Quintozene and/or Nutri Q.
Named as defendants are: Terralink Horticulture Inc.; Nutrite, a division of Fertichem Inc. now known as Ferti Technologies Inc.; Yara Canada Inc.; Yara Canada L.P.; John Doe Co. ABC; John Doe Co. XYZ and John Doe Partnership. The claim identifies Terralink as distributor of the fertilizer and the remaining defendants as suppliers.
MDGC claims that it purchased 25 kilograms of the fertilizer from Terralink in late November 2009, for the purpose of preventing snow mold.
It claims that, at the time of purchase, Terralink’s website described the fertilizer as “organic” and that golf course superintendent Wade Hawksworth chose the fertilizer for that reason. It further alleges that when Hawksworth explained to a Terralink agent that he was looking for fertilizer to apply to golf greens to prevent snow mold, the agent didn’t give him any instructions or warnings or tell him that there was anything inorganic about the fertilizer.
The suit further alleges the fertilizer was applied to the plaintiff’s golf greens in early December 2009. It says that, after application, the greens began showing signs of burn, and that the situation got progressively worse until the greens could not be used.
The plaintiff claims the fertilizer was not an organic fertilizer and is seeking damages for losses arising from breach of contract, negligence in the sale of the fertilizer and misrepresentations about the fertilizer’s chemical nature.
As of press time, no response to the claim had been filed.
None of these allegations have been proven in court. •
