Owner of former Smurfit-Stone site found guilty of failing to clean up property

The ownerof the former Smurfit-Stone mill site in Bathurst hasbeen found guiltyoffailing to clean up the property and will be sentenced on June 17.

Bathurst Redevelopment Inc., was on trial in Bathurstprovincial court on Friday, but had no lawyers or representatives present to mount a defence.

The company hadfailed to show up in court on four previous occasions to enter a plea on the charge, so a judge had granted a request by the Crown for an ex parte trial, which does not require the defendant to be present.

Companies convicted under the provincial Clean Environment Act can face penalties of up to $1 million.

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Crown prosecutor Marc Bourgeois called two witnesses on FridayMichel Poirier, an inspector and professional engineer withthe provincial Department of Environment in Fredericton, andDavid Leduc,an inspectorwith theDepartment of Public Safety.

The Department of Environment regulates the decommissioning of properties, such as Smurfit-Stone, which closed in 2005.

A decommissioning plan, which followedprovincial regulations, was put into place in 2006 and decommissioning activities began in 2008, said Poirier, who had several maps and a box full of evidence.

But the site was sold in 2010to Bathurst Redevelopment Inc., a Canadian subsidiary of Illinois-based Green Investment Group.

Promised 'green cleanup'

The real estate development companyhadpromised a "green cleanup" of the site, which is located aboutone kilometre from the heart ofthe city. But the site was only stripped of valuable metals and equipment and what remains has been described as an eyesore.

After three years of zero voluntary compliance, the company was served in April 2015 with a cleanup order under the Clean Environment Act, which wassigned by the Environment minister, the courtroom heard.

The order expired 120 days laterwithout compliance or any action by the company, Poirier said.

Enforcement was then pursued by the Department of Public Safety.

The company's lawyer, Gregory Riordon, resigned in 2015, after the ministerial order was issued, the courtroom heard.

But the ministerial order and notice of intention were sent toRaymondStillwell,of Illinois, who was listedas the owner on the company's2013 annual return, notifying him of the court date.

The Crown argued it's a simple case the order was issued, served, expired and not adhered to.

Judge Ronald LeBlancagreed and found the company had been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sentencing was adjourned until June 17 at 1:30 p.m. to allow the Crown to collect victim impact statements.

Almost $1 million is owing on the property in back taxes.

About 270 people were put out of work when the mill closed.