Belledune residents launch lawsuit against province
Last Updated: Thursday, November 17, 2005 | 2:57 PM AT
CBC News
Residents fighting the Bennett Environmental soil treatment plant in Belledune are threatening to sue the province.
A citizen's group has filed the two months notice required before starting any action against the province.
Members of the group appealed the building permit for the Bennett Environmental facility as soon as it broke ground, but the hearing has been on hold since June because of a vacancy on the Assessment and Planning Appeal Board.
The group claims the province has been negligent by not appointing a new vice-chairman, and says Supply and Services Minister Dale Graham is in conflict because he's also filling in as environment minister.
Residents say their properties are already contaminated by existing industry, and they don't want more.
Graham has written them to say the position will be filled soon, and the appeal hearing will continue at that time.
But Belledune-area resident Peggy Gordon can't understand the delay. "To think that we are just being ignored and treated like this, and our opinion is not worth anything, it's extremely disappointing."
Gordon and the rest of her group are planning to show their disappointment in the form of a $300,000 lawsuit against the province.
Lawyer Eric Gillespie says the provincial government is negligent for not having granted the hearing sooner. "There's been no reasons. No explanations given for why these appointments aren't being made, for why this hearing can't go forward."
The province says a series of unfortunate events have delayed the hearing June. Department of Environment and Local Government officials say they've been trying to find someone to hear the case. But everyone they have asked has declined.
