An Alberta-based fuel supplier has been fined $1.25 million after pleading guilty to a solvent spill that killed fish in a creek that flows into the Battle River.
An investigation by Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers determined that approximately 1,800 litres of petrosol solvent leaked from a storage tank owned by Drever Agencies Inc. and entered the unnamed creek in late summer 2017.
Laboratory analysis confirmed that the solvent was lethal for a number of fish and the company was charged under the Fisheries Act.
Drever Agencies Inc., the head office of which is based in Camrose, Alberta, was fined in February 2020 in Alberta’s Wetaskiwin Provincial Court. The company appeared to make no official statement regarding the fine.
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As a result of the conviction, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry. The fine money will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund, which follows the polluter pays principle. All fines are used for projects with positive environmental impacts.
Related Professional Development Course
Learn more about spills and environmental emergencies by attending the professional development course “Dealing with Environmental Emergencies and Spills” at the Canadian Environmental Compliance and Due Diligence Training Event on May 13, 2020 in Vaughan, Ontario. Click here to see course details and speaker information.
