Release of Industrial Wastewater from Burst Pipe Results in $350,000 in Penalties

Environment Canada responded to a report of the release of 852,000 litres of industrial wastewater into muskeg and a small unnamed creek and found hundreds of dead fish downstream of the spill. Environment Canada and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development conducted a joint investigation, which found the wastewater had been generated from the processing of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons at a facility and was being transported by an underground pipeline when the pipeline ruptured. The facility pleaded guilty to one violation of the federal Fisheries Act and one violation of Alberta environmental law. The court ordered it to pay a $15,000 federal fine, $185,000 to the Environmental Damages Fund and $150,000 for the provincial offence [SemCAMS ULC, Govt. News Release, Dec. 27, 2013].