A Canadian mining company has been fined more than $16 million for polluting waterways in B.C.'s East Kootenay.
A Canadian mining company has been fined more than $16 million for polluting waterways in B.C.'s East Kootenay.
The B.C. Ministry of Environment has imposed three administrative penalties on Teck Coal Limited, a subsidiary of Teck Resources, citing the company's failure to have water treatment facilities ready by a required date to limit emissions of nitrate and selenium from its Fording River operations in the Elk Valley.
The ministry says administrative penalties are monetary fines issued by the government instead of by the court on individuals or companies who violate requirements of environmental laws and regulations. Such penalties are usually issued when non-compliance continues following warnings and violation tickets.
The largest fine, at $15.48 million, was handed out for Teck Coal's failure to activate its Fording River South water treatment facility near Elkford, B.C., by Dec. 31, 2018, as required by the provincial permit for the discharge of wastewater.
The ministry says the facility treats effluent from the Swift, Cataract and Kilmarnock Creeks — all tributaries of the upper Fording River. [...]
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