Quebec court decides in Shell's favour on Montreal East Refinery activities

CALGARY, Sept. 16 /CNW/ - Quebec's Superior Court ruled in favour of Shell this morning. The Court's decision was rendered on an application made by the Union representing some of Shell's refinery workers to obtain a permanent injunction seeking to prevent Shell from proceeding with work at its Montreal-East refinery.  Shell has been complying with an interim injunction since July 7^th that has prevented the company from conducting its planned conversion activities at the refinery.

"We are pleased with this morning's ruling and the dismissal of the injunction," said Lorraine Mitchelmore, President of Shell Canada. "As Shell has always maintained, the Court's decision confirms that Shell did not undertake, and prior to the interim injunction was not proposing to undertake, any unauthorized work."

The judge's ruling states that Shell may proceed with the conversion work in the manner in which it had originally planned. The judge also clearly and specifically stated that Shell is entirely free to cease its operations and cannot be legally forced to continue operating the refinery.

"It is now also very important for the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks to act on our other long-standing permit application that we require to begin the construction that will increase our capacity to import fuels to our terminal," said Mitchelmore.

Shell has always acknowledged that it requires an authorization under section 15 of the Petroleum Products Act to conduct the permanent demolition work that it will ultimately need to complete.  Shell believes that this permit, which it applied for over 5 months ago, should now be issued without further delay.

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