OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an appeal request that sought to halt construction on Canadian National’s new intermodal terminal in Milton, Ontario.
The justices gave no reasons for their May 8 decision, The Canadian Press reported.
The $180 million Toronto-area terminal cleared a legal hurdle in October, when a panel of three judges upheld a federal government decision that allowed the project to proceed despite “significant adverse environmental effects.” A March 2024 lower court decision had highlighted health concerns around air quality, noting that 800 trucks would make daily round trips to the terminal.
The Milton Logistics Hub gained federal government approval in January 2021, following an extensive review under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The approval attached 325 conditions designed to protect the community and the environment.
The Halton Region and its four municipalities, as well as the Halton Region Conservation Authority, had sought to stop the project.
CN proposed the Milton Logistics Hub in 2015 and requested federal approval for the project in 2016. The terminal plan ran into local opposition, with area mayors and residents citing noise, truck traffic, and environmental concerns.
CN has said the terminal will give the railway the capacity it needs to grow in the Greater Toronto, which is home to 7 million people and is the fastest-growing region in Canada.
CN operates three terminals in the Toronto area, all of which are operating at capacity. The Brampton Intermodal Terminal, the railway’s largest, is hemmed in by development.
The Milton terminal would initially handle four trains per day, CN has said.
The antis do have a point: rail intermodal doesn’t eliminate trucking. It relocates trucking and concentrates trucking.
Thanks to UPRR and BNSF, there may be fewer long-haul trucks on I-70 across Kansas or I-80 across Nebraska. But there’s a whole lot of idling trucks spewing diesel exhaust in Chicago suburbs waiting for a load at the intermodal terminals. And a whole lot of trucks on Illinois I-294 headed onto Wisconsin IH-94.