A B.C. Supreme Court trial is set for next year in a lawsuit launched by Delta against a company the municipality alleges caused significant ecological damage to Burns Bog.
In March 2013, Delta, joined by Metro Vancouver, filed a claim against Princess Farms alleging that damage has occurred within the Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area as a result of soil deposit activities that were carried out on an adjacent property on 104th Street in East Delta.
The case, which will be heard in January, alleges the activities occurred with the consent of the company and by or under the supervision of Matcom Landfill Management Inc. and/or Matcom Civil Constructors Inc. All three parties have been named as defendants in the lawsuit, which is currently going through examinations for discovery.
A report to council notes environmental, geotechnical, survey and aerial mapping work by experts has been completed in support of the claim.
“It is Delta’s position that some or all of the disruption and damage to the Burns Bog ecosystem is irreparable and we are seeking appropriate costs to remediate the bog to the extent possible and aggravated and punitive damages based on disgorgement of revenues obtained while carrying out the fill operation in contravention of their permits,” the report notes.
Now closed, the Princess Farms property comprises 16 hectares (39.5 acres) at the eastern edge of Burns Bog, which was purchased jointly by four levels of government in 2004.
The farm is within the Agricultural Land Reserve but hasn’t been used for agriculture for some time.
Four years ago, Delta council voted against an application by the owner to allow tens of thousands of additional cubic metres of fill to be deposited there, but the Agricultural Land Commission gave the green light anyway.
Five years earlier, the commission had given the go ahead for the owner to deposit 300,000 cubic metres of mixed soil. The commission was told the goal was to eventually make the site suitable for blueberry farming, but no such activity is taking place there now.
The lawsuit alleges the total bog area impacted is estimated to cover 17,000 square metres.
“Affected areas of Burns Bog include vegetation, trees, wildlife habitat and the peat bog itself, which suffered tearing, heaving and the vertical and lateral displacement of the peat bog near where fill was placed on native peat on the adjacent farm land,” according to an earlier Corporation of Delta news release. “Run off from the fill may also affect the bog’s chemistry.”
Delta has enacted a new soil conservation and protection bylaw and other initiatives in an attempt to stop dumping on other farms.
