Decision Date: July 5, 1996

Panel: Bob Radloff

Keywords: Sewage Disposal Regulation – ss. 3.2(b), 3(3)(b), 3(4)(e), 3.4(2); notice requirements; strata subdivision

The Appellants appealed a decision by the Environmental Health Officer (“EHO”) to issue a permit for a sewage treatment and disposal system on a lot adjacent to their property. The Appellants maintained that the permit was issued in violation of the notice requirements for the granting of a permit and that the Permit Holder had failed to disclose to the EHO that the permitted system was to support a strata subdivision on the subject property. They argued that the disposal system could potentially pollute wells on properties adjacent to the permitted property, including those of the Appellants. The Appellants also challenged the permit on the grounds that the treatment system proposed was unproven in British Columbia and that the engineer charged with designing the system was also the sales agent for the treatment system and therefore could not be relied on to be objective.

The Board held that the Appellants had not been prejudiced by the Permit Holder’s failure to meet the notice requirements of the Regulation. The Board found that the permitted system did not support a strata subdivision and that, if a strata subdivision is sought, a new application for a permit to construct will be required. On the facts, the Board found that the proposed disposal system met the design requirements of the Regulations and did not present a threat to the general health of the community or to the adjacent wells on the Appellant’s property. Any lack of objectivity on the part of the engineer was remedied by the review of the system by the EHO and the Board. The Board therefore found that a permit should be issued. The appeal was dismissed.