Former owner of former Bathurst Smurfit-Stone mill site fined $150,000

Provincial court judge Ronald Leblanc had fined Bathurst Redevelopment Inc, the owner of the former Smurfit-Stone paper mill in Bathurst $150,000 for failure to comply with a ministerial order to clean up the property.

"It would be an understatement to say they never lived up to their promises," said Leblanc at the final date in the ex-parte trial.

No representative of the company was in court to hear the sentencing Thursday.

• Owner of former Smurfit-Stone site found guilty of failing to clean up property
• U.S. firm investigated for clean-up at old Canadian mill site

Bathurst Redevelopment Inc, a Canadian subsidiary of American-owned Green Investment Group Inc, bought the property in 2010, with promises of a "green cleanup" of the site. Instead, valuable metals and equipment were removed and the property was stripped of value. The remaining silos, dilapidated office building, and rubble have been described as an "eyesore".

The penalty for this type of transgression by a corporation carries a minimum fine of $1,000 and a maximum fine of $1 million.

Crown attorney Marc Bourgeois had previously recommended a fine of $150,00 to $200,000.

Company insolvent

"The crown's pleased with the outcome that the sentencing judge imposed and I think this creates a strong deterrent for companies who are undertaking this kind of behaviour in the future within the province of New Brunswick," said Bourgeois outside the courtroom.

Bourgeois had previously noted during his presentation to the court that since Bathurst Redevelopment Inc. is insolvent, the penalty is largely symbolic.

Judge Ronald Leblanc highlighted the company's previous record of similar behaviour at other decommissioned mill sites in Canada.

He called it "a disturbing pattern."

Bathurst Redevelopment Inc. and its parent company, Green Investment Group, have until Dec 30, 2016 to pay the fine.