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Evidence of third-party fault is irrelevant to an appeal of a no-fault environmental remediation order.
The appellant municipality appealed a no-fault remediation order issued by the Ministry of the Environment under s. 157.1 of the Environmental Protection Act following a fuel oil spill that migrated onto municipal property.
The appellant sought to introduce evidence before the Environmental Review Tribunal to prove that others were at fault for the spill, relying on the 'polluter pays' principle.
The Tribunal excluded this evidence as irrelevant to the environmental protection objective of the Act.
The Court of Appeal upheld the Tribunal's decision, confirming that evidence of third-party fault is irrelevant to whether a no-fault order should be revoked.
Appeal dismissed; innocent municipality must comply with environmental remediation order despite not causing the contamination.
The City of Kawartha Lakes appealed a decision of the Environmental Review Tribunal upholding a Ministry of the Environment order requiring the City to remediate environmental contamination on its property.
The contamination was caused by a furnace oil leak from an adjacent private property.
The City argued it was an innocent owner and the Tribunal erred by excluding evidence regarding who was at fault for the spill.
The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding that the Tribunal's decision to exclude fault evidence was reasonable, as the Environmental Protection Act's primary purpose is environmental protection, and fault-finding is better suited for civil courts.
