MOE’s Order to Recycling Company Upheld on Appeal

For eight years, a recycling company operated its business on a piece of property. Rainwater flowing through non-recyclable materials stored on the property and into the ground contaminated the groundwater, both on-site and off-site. After complaints from nearby residents, the MOE ordered the company and its directors to undertake certain remedial and monitoring measures. The company appealed. A court upheld the order. The MOE clearly weighed the factors specified in the environmental law. Her conclusion that the company was a ‘person’ under the law who’d created an adverse effect on the environment beyond the de minimus was certainly well within the range of reasonable outcomes available based on all of the information that was before her [3076525 Nova Scotia Limited v. Nova Scotia (Environment), [2017] NSSC 67 (CanLII), March 9, 2017].