Environmental Review Tribunal
Tribunal de l’environnement
ISSUE DATE:
August 7, 2015
CASE NO.:
13-034
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 140(1) of the Environmental Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.E.19, as amended
Appellants:
See “Schedule 1 – Appellant list”
Respondent:
Director, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
Subject of appeal:
Order issued under sections 18(1) and 43 of the Environmental Protection Act, to carry out work with respect to waste material
Property Address/Description:
350 Wentworth Street North
Municipality:
City of Hamilton
ERT Case No.:
13-034
ERT Case Name:
Hart v. Ontario (Environment and Climate Change)
Heard:
July 22, 2015 by telephone conference call
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel/Representative^+^
Director, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
Andrea Huckins
John McGill Currie (deceased), Robert Labatt and Donald Rickerd
Mark Abradjian
Greg Hart, Imco Technologies and 836724 Ontario Limited
Don Morris
Harbhajan Singh Tamber, 1125906 Ontario Inc., and Wim Van Ravenswaay
John Smithson^+^
Sukhinder Singh Sandhu, 1352473 Ontario Inc., 1350684 Ontario Inc. and Manjit Gill
Chris Argiropoulos
ORDER DELIVERED BY HUGH S. WILKINS
REASONS
Background
1On April 16, 2013, Geoffrey Knapper, Director, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (the “Ministry”), issued a Director’s Order (the “Director’s Order”) to 20 persons pursuant to s. 18(1) and 43 of the Environmental Protection Act (“EPA”). The Director’s Order relates to a site located at 350 Wentworth Street North in the City of Hamilton (the “Site”), where drums of waste materials were discovered behind a wall in the basement of a building. This discovery was reported to the Ministry on April 8, 2013 by one of the current owners of the Site. Ministry environmental officers carried out an inspection of the Site on April 10, 2013 and confirmed the presence of approximately 200 barrels of apparently hazardous waste materials being stored there in an insecure manner. On April 11, May 9 and June 6, 2013, securement orders were issued by a Justice of Peace against the current owners prohibiting the unauthorized removal of wastes. In the past, the Site has been the subject of a number of Ministry orders and enforcement actions regarding unauthorized storage of hazardous wastes, related spills and soil contamination.
2The Director’s Order requires the named persons to secure the Site, to retain the services of a qualified professional, to have that person assess the buildings on the Site to determine the extent of waste materials present within and around any structures, to have a qualified professional assess, sample and classify all wastes currently on the Site and all those discovered as a result of the assessment, to have the wastes disposed of in accordance with the applicable regulations, guidelines and standards, to have the affected structures remediated and decontaminated, and to report to the Ministry at each step. The Director’s Order also requires the present owners of the Site to grant access to all of the orderees and to persons retained by them.
3The Director’s Order was served on April 23, 2013. Within the appeal period, the Environmental Review Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) received notices of appeal from Robert Labatt, Donald Rickerd, John McGill Currie, Greg Hart, Imco Technologies Inc., 836724 Ontario Limited, Harbhajan Singh Tamber, 1125906 Ontario Inc., and Wim Van Ravenswaay.
4A preliminary hearing was held in Stoney Creek, Ontario, on November 21, 2013 and continued by telephone conference call (“TCC”) on November 28, 2013 during which the parties discussed the setting of procedural due dates. On March 3, 2014, the Tribunal issued an Order in which it confirmed that mediation services would be provided by the Tribunal and it directed the disclosure of documents. It also granted party status to Sukhinder Singh Sandhu, 1352473 Ontario Inc., 1350684 Ontario Inc., Manjit Gill, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (“CIBC”) and the Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”). CIBC and RBC subsequently withdrew from the proceedings.
5Further TCCs were held on February 6, May 15, June 25, and September 3, 2014, and April 1, and June 24, 2015 over which time mediation was ongoing.
6On July 22, 2015, a further TCC was held during which the Tribunal provided procedural directions and the parties discussed dates for the hearing of these appeals.
ORDER
7The Tribunal directs the following schedule related to the appeals:
September 24, 2015
Director’s witness statements and documents to be relied on at the hearing to be filed with the Tribunal and served on the other parties
October 23, 2015
Appellants’ witness statements and documents to be relied on at the hearing to be filed with the Tribunal and served on the other parties
October 30, 2015
Director’s reply witness statements and reply documents to be filed with the Tribunal and served on the other parties
December 7 to 11, 16-18, 2015 and March 7 to 11, 2016
Hearing of the appeals commencing at 10 a.m. in Hamilton, Ontario at a venue to be determined
8The preliminary hearing in this matter is adjourned to a TCC to be held on November 12, 2015 at 4 p.m. The Tribunal case coordinator will forward call-in details for the TCC to the parties.
Procedural Directions Ordered
Preliminary Hearing Adjourned
“Hugh S. Wilkins”
HUGH S. WILKINS
MEMBER
Schedule A – Appellant List
If there is an attachment referred to in this document,
please visit www.elto.gov.on.ca to view the attachment in PDF format.
Environmental Review Tribunal
A constituent tribunal of Environment and Land Tribunals Ontario
Website: www.elto.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248
Schedule A
Appellant List
John McGill Currie (13-041)
Robert Labatt (13-042)
Donald Rickerd (13-043)
Greg Hart (13-034)
Imco Technologies Inc. (13-037)
836724 Ontario Limited (13-038)
Harbhajan Singh Tamber (13-035)
1125906 Ontario Inc. (13-039)
Wim Van Ravenswaay (13-036)