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ARTICLE · 06 MAY 2014

Castonguay Convicted Again: Ontario Courts Continue To Recognize Section 15(1) EPA "Duty To Report"

Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP
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The Ontario Court of Justice added a couple of postscripts to a landmark legal case that confirmed the incident reporting requirements under section 15(1).

CanadaEnvironment
Marc McAree
Marc McAree
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The Ontario Court of Justice has added a couple of expensive postscripts to a landmark legal case that confirmed the incident reporting requirements under section 15(1) of Ontario's Environmental Protection Act. Castonguay Blasting Ltd. was found guilty (yet again) of failing to report the discharge of a "contaminant" (fly rock from its blasting operations) that caused or is likely to cause an "adverse effect" (damage to a movie theatre, parked cars and a garage) in three separate incidents.

In a case that went to the Supreme Court of Canada,1 Castonguay Blasting Ltd. (Castonguay) was charged by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) for failing to report the discharge of fly rock in a blasting accident. The fly rock severely damaged a private residence and a parked car during road work near the town of Marmora in November 2007 (see Castonguay decision: Appeal Court clarifies and broadens Ontario's spill reporting requirements"). Castonguay was convicted by the

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