A group of local citizens concerned about plans to ship jet fuel along the Fraser River will not be tasked to pay back upwards of $20,000 in legal fees to a consortium of major airlines.
The group, VAPOR, took the consortium — the Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation — and the Province of B.C. to court last year, claiming the public consultation process was flawed.
“It may seem a small victory given we lost the main case — in June 2015 — on the adequacy of public consultation, but it isn't,” said VAPOR member Sandra Bourque.
“It’s a big victory for people pursuing issues of public interest in court. It means concerned citizens should not fear taking legal action against environmental wrongs knowing they would automatically have to pay court costs of those they challenge, should they lose,” added Bourque.
The Honourable Madam Justice Dillon rendered the decision last Friday. She was the same judge who heard VAPOR’s case last year.
“Justice Dillon, however, made it clear she considered this case a matter of great public interest,” said Bourque.
In the original decision, Dillon had noted that it was not the court’s place to judge the adequacy and meaningfulness of public involvement stipulated in the BC Environmental Assessment Act.
She stated the length of public consultation was “constrained” by the law.
While Dillon noted various academic concerns of the EAA “the conclusion is that there was no denial of procedural fairness” as written by the law.
“It is not up to this Court to consider the broad purposes of public consultation and then interpret the legislation in a manner that imposes techniques or processes that it considers will result in meaningful dialogue or democratization of the process. This assignment has been given to the executive director of the (Environmental Assessment Office) within the policies dictated by regulation and as long as the executive director’s interpretation is reasonable and fair within the confines of that law, then this Court cannot interfere,” wrote Dillon.
The Richmond News asked VAFFC spokesperson Adrian Pollard to comment following Dillon’s decision to not force payment upon VAPOR.
"We respect the judge's decision that each party will bear its own cost. We remain confident that this project will provide YVR with a safe and reliable fuel delivery system for the future. The comprehensive federal/provincial environmental review, concluding in 2013 with the award of an Environmental Assessment Certificate, confirmed that view," stated Pollard, by email via a public relations firm.
