Samborski Environmental sues Manitoba government for $24K
A landscaping company is suing the Manitoba government for $24,000, saying the province stole soil from its yard.
In a statement of claim filed last week, Samborski Environmental Ltd. accused the province of "high handed" actions that have deprived the company's owners of their ability to earn an income.
Samborski, which is located in Oak Bluff, just southwest Winnipeg, had been in a long-running dispute with the province over the company's composting facility on McGillivray Boulevard.
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In February 2015, general manager Paul Samborski accused the province of theft after Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship took over the cleanup operation at the company's facility in Oak Bluff, just outside Winnipeg.
In 2013, the province slapped Samborski with an environmental protection order to relocate its compost operation from the site. The order was prompted by hundreds of complaints from area residents about excessive odours coming from the business.
Samborski appealed the order but in October 2014, a court sided with the province and a new protection order date was set for Dec. 1, 2014.
When the province decided the company was not making satisfactory progress in moving the operation, the government hired a contractor and took over the job.
During the cleanup process, the province's contractor removed 600 cubic metres of soil that was not compost but was being stored for sale in the coming spring, Samborski's statement of claim says.
The soil had a value of $40 per cubic yard and as a result of it being taken away, Samborski has been deprived of its property and ability to earn an income, the claim states.
"This is theft, cut-and-dry theft," Samborski told CBC News in February 2015, as the cleanup was taking place.
The province has not yet filed a statement of defence.