OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that companies are responsible for the cost of complying with environmental orders related to a historic mercury-contaminated site near the Dryden paper mill, not the Ontario government.
The 4-3 decision issued Friday means that Weyerhaeuser and Resolute are on the hook for a 2011 order to Weyerhaeuser and Bowater [Bowater later became Resolute] to repair a waste disposal site, keep monitoring and testing it, and take steps to prevent and deal with any leaks.
The companies had argued that an indemnity granted to the then-owners of the mill in 1985–in return for investments in the mill–as part of a settlement with the Grassy Narrows and Islington First Nations applied to them as well.
The province disagreed.
In 2016, an Ontario judge supported the companies' position and agreed that the language of the indemnity should cover the two subsequent owners of the property.
The Ontario Court of Appeal then decided Resolute was not entitled to indemnification, and said the lower court should decide whether it was applicable to Weyerhaeuser.
In its ruling Friday, the Supreme Court noted that the 1985 agreement didn't say the province would cover the company's costs of following environmental rules.
The majority of justices also said the agreement wasn't meant to cover claims between the government and the company.
"This case dealt with a company that was going bankrupt. Companies can still be responsible for following environmental rules even when they go bankrupt," a synopsis of the decision released by Supreme Court communications staff noted.
