The Provincial Court of British Columbia has ordered diversified miner Teck Resources to pay C$2.2-million for the unlawful deposit of effluent into the Columbia river.
The company has pleaded guilty to two charges laid under the federal Fisheries Act and one charge laid under the Environmental Management Act, Environment and Climate Change Canada reports.
In February 2019, Teck employees reported a spill of low-pH effluent from the company’s Trail Operations in Trail, British Columbia to Environment and Climate Change Canada and Emergency Management British Columbia.
Enforcement officers investigated and determined that the discharge of about 2.5-million litres of low-pH effluent into the Columbia river resulted from numerous operational errors.
Environment and Climate Change Canada reports that the company’s failure to exert due diligence contributed to the duration and extent of the spill. In this case, the low-pH effluent was caused by a leak of an acidic solution from the company’s fertiliser operations in Warfield, British Columbia. Much of the discharged effluent was below pH 4, which is deleterious, or harmful to fish.
The federal fine of C$2-million will be directed to the government’s Environmental Damages Fund. The company was ordered to pay C$200 000 in provincial charges.
Created in 1995, the Environmental Damages Fund is administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Fund helps ensure that court-awarded penalties are used to support projects that restore the natural environment and conserve wildlife. The Fund receives and redirects the money from court penalties and settlements, usually investing in areas where the environmental damage occurred.