Lack of a qualified Crown prosecutor has prompted a provincial court judge to throw out a case against a Burns Lake-area plumber accused of failing to comply with the health officer's orders in relation to a leaking septic system.
As of Monday, the case against Tweedsmuir Plumbing and Heating Ltd. and its owner, Carl Michael Rosang, had languished for 23 months since a first appearance in court was held in October 2010. Judge Michael Gray ruled that's too long.
A trial was supposed to be held over five days in July, August and October 2011 but Judith Doulis, the only Crown counsel in this region who specializes in environmental law, was unable to attend because of a case in Dawson Creek.
Five days next month had since been set for a trial but Gray, in giving his decision during a hearing at the Prince George courthouse, found Rosang's right to a timely trial had been violated and issued a stay of proceedings.
He cited a lack of "institutional resources" as the cause of the delay.
Rosang had been facing a charge of constructing a sewage tank in a manner that causes a health hazard under the province's Sewerage System Regulation. That charge was issued in October 2009 and he was subsequently charged three times for failing to comply with a health officer's order under the Public Health Act, in December 2009, May 2010 and September 2010.
Rosang still faces a small claims action from the matter.
In August 2008, he installed a new septic system on a property in Fort St. James, where the owner, John-Paul Wenger, was building a house that the family moved into in October 2008.
By May 2009, sewer was pooling on the lawn. Rosang tried to fix the problem over the next few months, "however, nothing worked," and in October 2009 Rosang walked away from the property and said "nothing can be done," Wenger said in a notice of claim.
Charges against Rosang were then filed and the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of B.C. suspended his credentials as a registered onsite waste practitioner although they have since been reinstated.
Gray, who was to hear the case if it had gone to trial, said it would have come down to whether due diligence was followed and noted there were questions around whether what had been a polluted site was properly remediated before Rosang began his work.
Wenger is seeking $25,000 in damages in the small claims action. A settlement hearing is scheduled for Oct. 12 in Burns Lake.
