On October 17th, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada released its
long-awaited decision in Castonguay Blasting,
commonly referred to as the fly-rock case. To summarize, Castonguay
was doing some blasting work and rock was unexpectedly projected
outside the work site, landing on someone's property and
damaging a home and a vehicle. No one was hurt and there was no
environmental damage. The contractor notified the site manager who
notified the provincial ministry of transport and the ministry of
labour. A month later, the ministry of transport mentioned the
incident to the ministry of the environment which then charged
Castonguay with the discharge of a contaminant in violation of the
Ontario Environmental Protection Act
(EPA) and for the offense of failing to report the
discharge. At issue before the courts was whether a discharge that
causes damage to property but not the environment must be reported.
The Ontario Court of Justice acquitted Castonguay. The Supreme
Court
