Warren (Maritimes) Ltd. v. New Brunswick (Minister of the Environment), 1997 CanLII 9479 (NB QB)

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

Warren (Maritimes) Ltd. ("Warren") operated an asphalt plant in an area that had, over time, been surrounded by a residential subdivision. The asphalt plant was licensed by the Minister of the Environment in 1993, and in 1996 the Minister decided not to renew the Approval to Operate. The subdivision residents had made complaints about the noise and dust produced by the plant, among other things, and the Minister took their complaints into account when he chose not to renew the plant’s license.

Warren applied for judicial review of the Minister’s decision, and the Court held that the decision was invalid, as it had been made “on the basis of wrong principles or for irrelevant considerations.” The Court stated that because there was no proof that the asphalt plant was causing health or environmental problems, the problem was essentially a social issue—one relating to land use and zoning rather than to the issues captured by New Brunswick’s Clean Environment Act. For this reason, the Court held that the Minister had taken wrong principles or irrelevant considerations into account when choosing not to renew the plant's license.

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/nb/nbqb/doc/1997/1997canlii9479/1997canlii9479.html

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