This case was heard in the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench (Trial Division).

From November 1978 to September 1995, Shell Canada ("Shell") supplied petroleum to a gas bar in Hanwell, New Brunswick. After September 1995, the petroleum was supplied by another company, Ultramar Ltd. In June 1995, it became clear that the site of the gas bar was contaminated with hydrocarbons, and testing indicated that the contamination had occurred before September 1995. In November 2003, Shell entered into a voluntary arrangement to participate in remediating the site, but in August 2006, as more extensive contamination was documented, Shell notified the Minister of the Environment that it would withdraw from the voluntary remediation arrangements. In October 2007, Shell received a Ministerial Order directing it to continue its remediation activities. When Shell served a Notice of Appeal to the Minister, the Minister denied the appeal and upheld the Order. Shell then appealed to the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench, asking the Court to find that the Minister’s decision was unreasonable, and should therefore be set aside.

The Court determined that the appropriate standard of review was the standard of reasonableness. After considering all of the evidence, it held that the Minister’s decision was not unreasonable, as it clearly fell within the scope of possible outcomes that were possible on the evidence. The Court therefore dismissed Shell’s application.

To read another decision related to this case, go to Ultramar v. PNB, 2006 NBQB 40 (CanLII).

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/nb/nbqb/doc/2008/2008nbqb313/2008nbqb313.html

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