A fuel supply numbered company in Mississauga, Ontario, has been fined $100,000 under the federal Fisheries Act after Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers discovered diesel fuel in Etobicoke Creek near the company’s fuel station in 2019.
The company, 2253457 Ontario Inc., pleaded guilty to the unlawful deposit of diesel fuel into fish-bearing waters on August 15 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton.
Diesel fuel entered Etobicoke Creek between February 7 and March 5, 2019, according to a federal enforcement notification. The creek flows into Lake Ontario, which is home to more than 100 species of fish.
“Through their investigation, enforcement officers determined that poor maintenance of the on-site oil-water separator led to a system failure, allowing diesel fuel to be discharged through the storm sewer into Etobicoke Creek,” states the notice from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
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B.C. Mining Waste Fines
British Columbia’s Teck Coal Ltd. — which recently began operating as Elk Valley Resources — has been fined for 29 mining waste spills over two years at its Elkview operations near Sparwood, B.C.
The B.C. Ministry of Environment handed down two administrative fines on August 8 for the process slurry and tailings spills that totalled more than 120,000 litres, according to the B.C. Natural Resource Compliance and Enforcement Database.
The larger of the two penalties — at $168,750 — deals with 27 separate instances of unauthorized waste discharges between February 2021 and November 2022. The Ministry of Environment found that these spills had little to no actual impact to the environment.
The second penalty of $52,000 covers two incidents when mining waste did get into nearby creeks.
According to the compliance and enforcement database, Elk Valley Resources used mobile equipment and vacuum trucks to clean up and excavate spilled and impacted material, eventually placing it in a tailings impoundment.
In July, Environment Canada laid five charges against Teck Coal Limited after the company was alleged to have dumped harmful substances into waters frequented by fish in southeastern B.C.
