This case was heard in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

Fairmount Developments Inc. ("Fairmount") had a property interest in a contaminated site and had been involved in ongoing communications between the Department of Environment and Labour and other interested parties while moving forward with environmental testing and remediation plans. Armstrong Morrell Incorporated ("AMI") proposed to carry out the necessary remediation, and the Department of Environment and Labour gave its approval for a two-month pilot project.

After AMI conducted tests to determine the degree of contamination on the property, it concluded that the property was not actually contaminated beyond acceptable levels. The Department of Environment and Labour did not accept AMI’s findings, and it rejected the methodology that AMI had used to reach its conclusion. The Minister therefore refused to issue a Certificate of Compliance to Fairmount.

Together, Fairmount and AMI appealed the Minister’s decision. The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia determined that the appropriate standard of review was the reasonableness standard, and, after considering the relevant law and legal principles, it concluded that the Minister’s decision was not unreasonable. The Court therefore upheld the Minister’s decision and dismissed the appeal.

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nssc/doc/2004/2004nssc126/2004nssc126.html

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