This case was heard in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Trial Division).

In 2004, Newfoundland Recycling Limited was convicted in Provincial Court under s. 36(3) of the federal Fisheries Act for having polluted a fish habitat with oil. The company had moored a fishing vessel that it intended to scrap. The vessel sank before the scrapping process was completed, and oil drums on board the vessel leaked 375 gallons of contaminant, mostly oil, into the water.

Newfoundland Recycling Limited appealed the conviction and sentence, and the case came to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. There, the Court affirmed that pollution is a strict liability offence—an offence that does not require proof of intention or wilful wrongdoing—and that Newfoundland Recycling Limited was liable for the pollution that resulted from the sinking of the vessel.

To read about this case in the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal, go to Newfoundland Recycling Limited v. Newfoundland & Labrador (Attorney General), 2009 NLCA 28 (CanLII).

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/nl/nlsctd/doc/2008/2008nltd38/2008nltd38.html

Disclaimer:
Case briefs in our Resource Library are drafted by law students who work or volunteer with East Coast Environmental Law, and East Coast Environmental Law does not guarantee their fullness or accuracy. Library users should not rely on case briefs as comprehensive accounts of the issues, facts, reasoning, or outcomes at stake in any given case. 

If you require more detailed information about a court decision or legal issue, please consider using our Environmental Law Inquiry Service to request information from our staff.