Retaining wall runs afoul of border law

BLAINE, Wash. – Herbert and Shirley Leu thought they were simply sprucing up their retirement home when they built a small concrete wall along the edge of their backyard.

It turns out they were creating an international incident by encroaching on a ditch that runs along the U.S.-Canada border.

Now the couple, who live on fixed pension and Social Security benefits, are wondering how much it will cost to remove the wall that took $15,000 to build.

Herbert Leu, 69, a retired electrician, and his wife, Shirley, 72, told the Bellingham Herald their problem started early this year, when officials said the 4-foot-tall wall was too close to the international border, which runs along a road in Blaine.

Their wall – built to keep the backyard soil from washing into a nearby ditch – was built too close to a 20-foot buffer zone that both countries keep clear under the terms of a 1925 treaty.

After a verbal warning from an International Boundary Commission official, the Leus said they got a personal visit Feb. 22 from U.S. Boundary Commissioner Dennis Schornack and his Ottawa-based counterpart, Peter Sullivan.

The couple also got a letter from Schornack, warning that the Leus had 45 days to remove the wall before the commission did the job and billed the Leus.

“I said, ‘Excuse me, that’s got rebar in it and it’s on our property,’ ” Shirley Leu said.

Reached at his Washington, D.C., office, Schornack told the Herald he could not comment on the Leus’ case. But he said the law is clear: No construction is allowed and no trees or shrubs can be planted in the 20-foot buffer zone.

The few exceptions granted are for electric lines, pipelines or similar projects, Schornack said.

The Leus say their property deed shows no such restriction. But Schornack said property owners who live so close to an international border should inquire about special circumstances.

“There’s just a general duty out there for people to be informed,” Schornack said.

In the meantime, the Leus said they have written state and federal officials for help. “I don’t think we should be penalized for trying to keep dirt from going into a ditch,” Shirley Leu said.