OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled against the government of Newfoundland and Labrador in its effort to force insolvent newsprint giant AbitibiBowater Inc. pay for an environmental cleanup.

The high court acknowledged the so-called “polluter pay” principle, but ruled it wasn’t enough to give the province the victory it has now failed to achieve in three levels of court.

The province wanted the top court to decide if a debtor’s statutory duty to remove environmental contamination is extinguished under Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

The company, now operating as Resolute Forest Products (TSX:RFP), had filed for protection under the act in 2009. Continue…