A Port Coquitlam company has been fined $150,000 by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment for environmental violations after waste was found to have entered the Pitt River, according to the province’s Natural Resource Compliance and Enforcement Database.
Ground X Site Services, which classifies itself as an “all-inclusive earthwork handling and management services provider”, received two fines following inspections in 2021 and 2023.
The provincial inspections revealed that the facility allowed hydrovac trucks to dump construction slurry into settling pits, with wastewater discharging into both a ditch on the northern side of the property and directly into the Pitt River. The waste contained metals, hydrocarbons, and bacteria, including elevated levels of contaminants such as E. coli, arsenic, and pyrene, which exceeded provincial water quality guidelines.
Ground X denied the allegations, asserting that historical industrial use of the property caused the contamination and that their facility is a transfer station for reusable materials, not a commercial waste disposal site. The company also claimed it had taken measures to control effluent, including the installation of filtration systems and barriers.
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“This aggressive and unnecessary concentrated misuse of Bylaw officers is a lawfare tactic Ground X has been facing up against and we’ve been attempting to resolve it within the letters of laws and regulations,” the company stated on social media and its website.
The ministry rejected the company’s claims, citing the presence of contact water from hydrovac waste and other materials on-site. Inspectors observed that the contamination persisted despite previous warnings dating back to July 2021. The company had applied for a waste discharge authorization in September 2021, but it was canceled in April 2024 after Ground X failed to provide necessary information, according to the ministry.
Ground X continues to dispute the ministry’s findings, maintaining that its operations are not responsible for the contamination.
