What is the impact of the clean-up costs incurred by the accused at the time of sentencing for an environmental offence?

From our earlier review of the principles of sentencing with respect to environmental offences, it is clear that the clean-up of both the spill and the consequences of the spill is an important consideration in determining the sentence. Whether the costs of clean-up are incurred or paid by the accused prior to sentencing, or form part of the fine or are the subject matter of a separate restitution order, these costs are an integral part of the legal consequences of a spill. This is the “polluter-pay principle” referred to in Nova Scotia Attorney General v. Marriott (2008), NSSC 160 and described at paragraph 39 as “being firmly entrenched in environmental law in Canada”.