Supreme Court of Canada dismisses Shawnigan Lake soil dumping appeal
B.C. Court of Appeal overturned a previous B.C. Supreme Court ruling allowing municipality to prohibit site
A long legal battle over a contaminated soil facility on Vancouver Island has come to an end.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application for appeal from the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) to challenge a ruling over the Shawnigan Lake soil facility.
The site — an old quarry upstream from Shawnigan Lake — has been a subject of controversy for many years.
The site operators had obtained a provincial permit to accept and store up to 100,000 tonnes of contaminated soil at the site annually.
Residents were concerned the contaminated soil could end up the in water supply.
The CVRD sued the operators, saying the property was a landfill and prohibited under the regional district's zoning bylaws.
In March 2016, the B.C. Supreme Court agreed, ruling in the district's favour and against the soil site, but in November 2016 the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned the decision.
The CVRD was trying to appeal that decision at the Supreme Court level before being rejected.
However, in February this year the provincial government cancelled the waste discharge permit for the site.
North Cowichan Mayor Jon Lefebure, the chair of the CVRD, is disappointed that he won't get his day in Canada's top court, but was hopeful future cases could strengthen his position.
"We have no further court of appeal but ... It's an ongoing concern and I think probably more cases will arrive in the future that will hopefully further delineate the different jurisdictions and put more strength into local zoning bylaws," he said.
With files from On The Island