Port Coquitlam loses appeal against Ground X landlord

Amid a legal battle over waste leaching into Pitt River, Port Coquitlam was back in court recently arguing for an injunction against the owner of four Kingsway Avenue properties.

Alleging violations of environmental protection orders, Port Coquitlam took legal action against Ground X in 2024. The company, which handles the disposal and recycling of construction materials, used dumping pits at 750 Kingsway to allow hydrovac trucks to leave construction slurry at the site.

Port Coquitlam previously asserted that, as the owner of the properties in question, Bath Properties is “liable for the wrongs of its tenant.”

But while Port Coquitlam was successful in getting an injunction against Ground X, the city’s efforts to get a similar injunction against Bath Properties – which leases property to Ground X – was dismissed.

Port Coquitlam appealed that decision in May, arguing the previous judge erred and was distracted by the landlord’s focus on issues of conduct and vicarious liability.

“This misses the point,” Justice Nitya Iyer wrote in a June 18 decision.

The city needed to provide clarity: “as to what it was alleging against Bath Properties,” Iyer concluded.

Bath Properties leases land to Ground X for: “barging, crushing, screening, sorting and blending, and operating a hydrovac pit,” on the condition Ground X follows all laws and bylaws.

Bath Properties stated it has “reminded and insisted” that Ground X follow those bylaws, the company responded.

Bath Properties accused the city of “deliberately and improperly” conflating its allegations against Ground X with the landlord.

The municipality has not provided evidence or alleged Bath Properties contravened any bylaw, the company responded.

The landlord is also: “not in a position to determine as between the city’s allegations and Ground X’s responses, which party is correct,” according to Bath Properties.

The judge in the first case agreed with the landlord, concluding Port Coquitlam did not plead: “any legal principle that gives rise to vicarious liability of a landlord for the conduct of its tenant.”

The judge also considered the city’s claim: “so weak she awarded Bath Properties its costs of the application,” Justice Iyer noted in the decision.

Port Coquitlam’s appeal was dismissed for the second time.

Ground X did not participate in the appeal.

Background

Ground X leased four properties between 720 and 859 Kingsway Avenue. The parcel is separated by a dike and adjacent to the Kingsway Ditch, which drains into Pitt River.

The Ministry of Environment fined Ground X in August 2024 after concluding the facility Kingsway Avenue was introducing waste into the Pitt River.

The company disputed charges that Ground X was polluting the waterway, describing the on-site operations as a transfer facility rather than a waste disposal facility.