In another strong judgment recognizing the specialized expertise of the Environmental Appeal Board, the Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld the Board’s decision denying the City of Burnaby standing to challenge a certificate of compliance issued by the Director of the Environmental Management Act on the basis that it was not prejudiced by the issuance of the certificate.
Between 1963 and 1996, Suncor operated a Petro-Canada service station and garage in Burnaby which contaminated that site and an adjacent property owned by the City of Burnaby. Suncor carried out an investigation, partial remediation and risk assessments of those lands, and in December of 2015, the Director certified that Suncor had satisfactorily remediated both properties. The City, however, believed that Suncor had failed to properly remediate the City Lands and appealed to the Board.
The Board determined the City did not have a right to appeal the Director’s certificate in respect of the former service station site because the certificate did not prejudice the City’s interests. The Board found that the City could mount its arguments on its appeal of the certificate concerning its own property.
Applying a deferential standard of review, the BC Supreme Court found the Board’s decision to be reasonable, taking into account the Board’s expertise in contaminated sites and the interpretation of the Environmental Management act.
Mark Underhill acted as counsel for the Environmental Appeal Board.
The full judgment can be found here.
