Company Penalized $210,000 for Federal and BC Environmental Offences

Approximately 350,000 litres of a highly caustic effluent deleterious to fish was discharged into the Columbia River through a company’s effluent system. The company didn’t report the unlawful discharge to Environment Canada and the Provincial Emergency Program until several days later. The company was convicted of violating the federal Fisheries Act and BC Spill Reporting Regulation under the Environmental Management Act. The court fined it $10,000 and ordered it to pay $100,000 to the Environmental Damages Fund and $100,000 to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation [Teck Metals Ltd., Govt. News Release, Nov. 6, 2013].