Vernon-based Tolko Industries is appealing a $75,000 fine that arose after a logging road it built led to a landslide.
The logging road was built in 2011 and led to a landslide six years later in May 2017, according to a decision by the BC Forest Appeals Commission issued Nov. 15.
The decision states that the landslide caused damage to Crown timber, the ecosystem, fish and habitat. A district manager imposed the $75,000 administrative penalty in accordance with the Forest and Range Practices Act.
It is unclear where the landslide took place. The decision only refers to the incident as the Rosemond Slide. The original decision was made by the Okanagan Shuswap Natural Resource District manager of the Ministry of Forests, suggesting the slide took place in that region.
Tolko's appeal of the fine came in 2022, and at that time Tolko cited 11 grounds for the appeal, including that there was no proof that its road construction caused the landslide, and that insufficient weight had been given to whether other factors beyond the road construction had caused the landslide.
However, this past April Tolko narrowed its grounds for the appeal and is no longer arguing that it had not caused the slide.
Instead, Tolko pushed forward with other grounds of its appeal, which included that the $75,000 fine was excessive, and that the contravention was not as serious as decision makers had originally found.
Part of Tolko's current argument is that documents requested by the provincial government are no longer necessary, as they relate to the issue of whether Tolko's logging road caused the slide, which the company is no longer contesting. The province argues the documents should still be produced, as they could reveal something about Tolko's forest practices, and "may shed light on (Tolko's) own knowledge of the seriousness of the contravention and its efforts to cooperate and correct the contravention," according to the decision.
The province also argued that Tolko should have narrowed its appeal "much sooner" than it did, and that its "decision to advance 'weak' grounds of appeal was reckless and/or tactical," and led to unnecessary costs which should be awarded to the government.
The Forest Commission decided against ordering these costs, saying Tolko's appeal was not "a marked departure from the expected standards of conduct." The Commission also denied the province's request for Tolko's documents.
Tolko's appeal of the $75,000 fine will move to a pre-trial conference at a later date.
