The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed the Cowichan Valley Regional district’s application to appeal its case against the controversial contaminated soil landfill above Shawnigan Lake.
The regional district had asked that the Supreme Court review the decision made by the BC Court of Appeal on Nov. 3, 2016, that allowed the landfill, owned by Cobble Hill Holdings, to continue operations at the time.
That decision reversed a ruling made by the BC Supreme Court on March 21 that found that the landfill is not a permitted use of the property under the CVRD’s zoning bylaws.
The CVRD argued that the BC Court of Appeal erred in setting aside “key factual findings” of the case, and that the court incorrectly determined that provincial mining decisions take exclusive precedence over the regional district’s land-use bylaws.
The regional district also argued that the court erred in finding that the CVRD’s authority to regulate soil-deposit facilities restricts the district’s ability to regulate land use.
The landfill’s permit to operate was pulled by the Ministry of Environment earlier this year, but the CVRD is determined to continue with the litigation to protect its ability to control land use through its zoning bylaws.
