SR Opposition Corp. v. Ontario (Environment and Climate Change)

摘要

Environmental law - Statutory protection of environment - Approvals, licences and orders - Miscellaneous - Director of Ministry of Environment and Climate Change issued approval to S Ltd. granting renewal energy approval (REA) for construction, installation, operation, use and retiring of wind facility with total name plate capacity of 10 megawatts - Portion of site was on Oak Ridges Moraine, within "Countryside Area" designation - S Corp. appealed REA on grounds that project would cause serious harm to human health and serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life and natural environment - Tribunal held hearing and dismissed appeal, confirming decision of Director- Under s. 145.2.1(3)(a) of Environmental Protection Act, person who requested hearing bore onus of proving that engaging in renewable energy project in accordance with REA will cause serious harm to human health - Under s. 145.2.1(3)(b) of Act, person who requested hearing bore onus of proving that engaging in project in accordance with REA will cause serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life or natural environment - S Corp. had not produced sufficient evidence to establish that water contamination, resulting from construction and operation of project, would result in serious harm to human health - S Corp. had adduced insufficient evidence to establish that project would cause serious harm to human health due to noise or that operation of project would cause serious harm to health of First Nation communities - Insufficient evidence had been adduced to establish that construction of project would cause serious harm to human health resulting from threat to public safety from fire or any other safety risk - S Corp. had adduced insufficient evidence to establish that operation of project in accordance with its REA would cause serious harm to human health - It was accepted that project, operating in accordance with REA conditions, would pose low risk of surface water, groundwater or well water contamination - S Corp. had failed to adduce sufficient evidence to establish that Environmental Test had been met.