A Peace River company has been charged with one count of violating the Fisheries Act after an investigation related to illegal wastewater dumping in the Peace River.
On October 11th, at the Alberta Court of Justice, Mercer Peace River Pulp Ltd. was ordered to pay a $1 million fine after pleading guilty to violating the Fisheries Act.
According to the courts, Mercer Peace River deposited or permitted the deposit of 30.8 million litres of wastewater that was toxic to the local fish population from its pulp mill into the river.
Officials say the pulp mill operates a wastewater management system that treats wastewater before releasing it into the Peace River. The system contains a spill pond designed to capture and store wastewater resulting from spills. Once in the spill pond, the wastewater is gradually reintroduced into the treatment system to minimize its overall negative effect.
Despite this, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s investigation determined the offence occurred during a maintenance shutdown of the mill. The shutdown generated waste from process vessels and wastewater from cleaning operations which were directed into the spill pond.
ECC says Mercer Peace River hadn’t maintained sufficient capacity in the pond to capture the additional wastewater, and as a result, the spill pond did not function as designed.
Since then, officials maintain Mercer Peace River has taken steps to increase the capacity of the spill pond by removing sludge and upgrading the pumping system.
Still, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry, which contains information on convictions of corporations registered for offences under federal environment laws.
