The VegPro building in Coldstream.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

A North Okanagan agricultural company has taken legal action against the Regional District of North Okanagan accusing it of "continually" roadblocking a permit it requires to move ahead with the development of housing for temporary foreign workers.

Gestion Verdura and Vert Nature, better known as VegPro, filed the petition at the BC Supreme Court June 11, asking the court to order the Regional District to issue a Proof of Water certificate and to declare a recent amendment to a bylaw is of "no force and effect."

Located just outside Vernon, VegPro said as part of the permitting process it can't move forward with its workers' housing project without the Proof of Water certificate which it claims the Regional District is purposely withholding.

"The Regional District of North Okanagan has unnecessarily prolonged this matter since the fall of 2024. (VegPro) has made repeated and good-faith efforts to satisfy all reasonable requests for the issuance of the Proof of Water. However, instead of providing a clear path to resolution, the Regional District of North Okanagan has delayed, obfuscated, and failed to act in a timely or reasonable manner. This conduct has made the resolution of this issue far more difficult than it ought to have been," VegPro said in the petition to the court. "The Regional District lacks jurisdiction to withhold the Proof of Water on this basis, and its continued refusal to release the document constitutes a misuse of authority."

The sticking point is a septic system for the buildings for workers' housing which the Regional District is concerned may contaminate Kalamalka Lake.

According to the court documents, in July 2024, VegPro applied for a development variance permit to build two buildings to accommodate up to 108 workers at the Coldstream facility.

James Kay of Alpine Civil Engineering Consultants reviewed the existing onsite septic treatment system and concluded the septic system could cope with the extra people noting that VegPro had proposed a second series of septic tanks and filters.

However, the Regional District had concerns that the water supply in Kalamalka Lake could be contaminated with sewage from the VegPro development, the court documents said.

"(The) Regional District’s position in response was that Mr. Kay’s clarifications did not address its most pressing concern – the capacity of the Septic System. Specifically, Regional District was of the view that Mr. Kay did not address how the Septic System could handle up to 96 additional people," the court document read.

The Regional District then concluded that the Septic System was not adequately sized to service the proposed new housing its board of directors approved withholding the Proof of Water certificate.

It then got a third-party engineer to review the septic design proposal.

"Even if spills do not occur, this system has the potential for additional loading to Coldstream Creek of numerous parameters such as nitrates/nitrites, phosphates, pathogens and salt, all of which would decrease water quality and increase the risk of algae blooms," the report presented to the Regional District read.

In December 2024, Interior Health, who have jurisdiction over septic systems, confirmed with the Regional District that the septic design was up to its standards.

The court document gave a play-by-play account of communication between the Regional District and VegPro, who by this point had gotten its lawyer involved.

The court document said that the District of Coldstream issued a building permit for the project and Director of Development Services Ryan Roycroft indicated to VegPro that the Regional District would withhold the Proof of Water certificate because of its concerns over the septic system.

In January, the Regional District issued the development variance but withheld the Proof of Water certificate.

Around the same time, the Society for the Protection of Kalamalka Lake launched an online petition, Protect Vernon's Drinking Water - Keep Kal Lake Blue! Keep Out the Poo, asking the Interior Health Authority and the Province to do a full review of the proposal.

In the court document, VegPro says it was "continually roadblocked" by the Regional District over the Proof of Water certificate.

It then got a new engineer who proposed another septic design.

"On or about March 12, 2025, (VegPro) confirmed that it would change its plans, and relocate the additional septic systems to discharge the effluent to a different site," the petition read. "A new Record of Sewerage System was filed and accepted by Interior Health on March 20, 2025."

It then asked again for the Proof of Water certificate, but the Regional District still refused.

"It cited concerns about potential criminal liability under the Drinking Water Protection Act," the court document read.

The Regional District also said under its amended bylaw a water connection may be denied if a development poses a significant unacceptable risk.

However, VegPro argued the bylaw was changed after the concerns were raised which was after it made its application.

"Despite the Regional District's concerns about the septic system for the proposed development raised in September of 2024, and despite (VegPro) engaging a new engineer to design a new septic system in compliance with provincial regulations to specifically address the Regional District's concerns about septic capacity, the Regional District now advised that it would be requesting an investigation by the drinking water officer," the court documents read.

VegPro argued it had made "every effort" to address the Regional Districts concerns.

"(VegPro) is incurring significant financial hardship by being forced to accommodate current temporary workers in alternative, temporary housing. (VegPro) expects these costs to increase significantly after June 25, 2025, when its temporary housing expires and it is forced to house its workers in hotels at summer rates," the petition to the court read.

The Regional District has yet to file a response and told iNFOnews.ca in an emailed statement it had just received the petition and was reviewing it with its legal team.

The Regional district went onto say in the statement that in 2013 it was found guilty under the Drinking Water Protection Act for “not providing potable water” and “allowing contamination to enter the drinking water system."

The judge in that case said “it is incumbent of the (Regional District) to find out the sources of potential contamination and eliminate or manage the risk." 

"He also determined that the RDNO could not simply rely on professional engineering submissions if they know, or ought to know they are unreliable. In the case of the Vegpro septic submission, the RDNO identified risks to the Greater Vernon Water source water (Coldstream Creek) that were verified by third party engineers. The RDNO has not received sufficient information to alleviate the concerns identified," a Regional District spokesperson said in the statement. "As the RDNO does not have jurisdiction for septic system approvals but does have legislative responsibility to protect the Greater Vernon Water drinking water source, the RDNO has requested our Drinking Water Officer complete an investigation to assess the risk to our drinking water... We are awaiting the results of the investigation before making a decision."

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

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