Bravo! Brava! Four years, two million dollars in legal fees defending clean drinking water by Shawnigan Lake Community triumphs! Mary Polak, BC Minister of Environment, revokes toxic dump facility permit

BC Environment Minister’s statement on Cobble Hill Holdings permit by Ministry of Environment, February 23, 2017

Minister of Environment Mary Polak has issued the following statement in regard to the waste discharge permit held by Cobble Hill Holdings Ltd. for its facility near Shawnigan Lake:

“Effective immediately, I am cancelling the waste discharge permit for Cobble Hill Holdings because the company has failed to meet the requirements outlined in my Jan. 27 letter.

“The company was given 15 business days to provide three required documents and submitted only two prior to the deadline given. Specifically, the company failed to provide the Province with adjusted financial security in the form of an irrevocable letter of credit.

“Cobble Hill Holdings has been provided multiple opportunities to respond to outstanding non-compliances and has repeatedly missed deadlines with respect to its permit requirements.

“Ministry staff are taking actions to ensure material on the property is managed in a way that does not present a risk to human health or the environment.

“My decision to cancel the waste discharge permit is based on information and advice from staff who are technical experts in their field.”

The minister’s letter of cancellation and reasons for decision can be found at: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/site-permitting-compliance/sia

C2017 02 23; Contaminated soil site in Shawnigan Lake shut down

2017 02 23 Shawnigan Lake Toxic Dump shut down by BC Minister Environment

“Four years later, fighting my own government for clean water … we’re ecstatic. We can’t believe it.”

2017 02 23 Sonia Furstenau, Shawnigan Lake Toxic Dump shut down by BC Minister Environment

“You can’t put a price on clean water.”

2017 02 23: Province pulls controversial Shawnigan Lake soil dumping permit, Cobble Hill Holdings Ltd. will no longer be able to discharge waste near Shawnigan Lake in British Columbia

2017 02 23: B.C. cancels Cobble Hill waste-discharge permit near Shawnigan Lake

2017 02 24 Globe and Mail photo, Shawnigan Lake toxic dump

One of the comments:

joey dog
Congrats to the people who have fought a very worthy fight. I can’t believe the BC government continued to turn a blind eye to these folks who I think showed lots of evidence that this was wrong and harmful to their community. Justice has been served. I hope the Liberal government will learn from this.

2017 02 21: Nikiforuk: Another Wild West Show? BC’s Regulatory Experiment with Professional RelianceCritics say it amounts to deregulation and less government oversight

[Refer also to:

2017 01 27: BC Govt Suspends Toxic Waste Dumping Permit Upstream from Shawnigan Lake. Will Rachel Notley gov’t file charges against Encana for illegally fracturing & contaminating Rosebud’s drinking water aquifers? And publicly expose all at AER, Alberta Health, Alberta Innovates & Alberta Environment who engaged in fraud covering-up Encana’s crimes? ]

This entry was posted in Other Legal. Bookmark the permalink.