The owner of Cobble Hill Holdings has launched a lawsuit against the Province and former Liberal environment minister Mary Polak, for closing down their Shawnigan Lake quarry that was being used to store contaminated soil.
Polak cancelled the permit in February saying the company failed to meet a deadline to submit what's called "an irrevocable letter of credit" to serve as a financial security.
Cobble Hill Holdings maintains the government didn't specify what form the credit should take, or how much, and had not approved plans that would have served as the basis of the guarantee.
The company’s operating permit had also been suspended the previous month when the ministry asked for the security along with a closure plan, cost estimate, and water management review reports.
Cobble Hill maintains it filed the plans on Feb. 20th, just 3 days before the government cancelled its permit, and now they say the land is contaminated and is causing them financial losses.
The suit, filed in BC Supreme Court, doesn't specify an amount -- but seeks general, special, aggravated and punitive damages as well as special costs the court may deem fit.
Responding to news of the suit -- Sonia Furstenau, B.C. Green MLA for Cowichan Valley -- calls the development surprising.
Furstenau says while the Ministry maintained the permits were cancelled over a letter of credit, the community of Shawnigan has always maintained their concern with the project was due to the potential that the facility could introduce contamination to the watershed.
She pledges to continue to work with the government to ensure that the project is cleaned up and no longer poses a risk to the health and safety of the residents of Shawnigan.
Furstenau also says what happened in Shawnigan should never happen to another community which is why a review of the professional reliance model has been included in her caucus's Confidence and Supply Agreement with the B.C. NDP, and she looks forward to conclusion of a review and reforms being implemented.