Recycling company fined for Fisheries Act violation in Edmonton

November 20, 2014 - Edmonton, Alberta - Environment Canada

This week, General Recycling Industries Ltd. (GRI) pleaded guilty in Alberta Provincial Court to one count of an offence under the Fisheries Act, related to the release of a deleterious substance into fish-bearing waters. The company was sentenced to a $75,000 penalty.

On April 28, 2012, Environment Canada received notification that “oily water” was being pumped from GRI property into a storm sewer. An Enforcement Officer attended the site and observed a four inch hose discharging industrial wastewater into the sewer, which flows into Mill Creek and subsequently the North Saskatchewan River. Both bodies of water are fish-bearing.

Sample analysis confirmed that the wastewater was deleterious to fish. An investigation into the incident was opened and the company was charged in 2013.

$73,000 of the penalty will be allocated to the Environmental Damages Fund.

Quick Facts

• GRI is a scrap metal recycling company in Edmonton.
• Mill Creek is home to various types of small minnows, while the North Saskatchewan River is home to a number of fish species, including lake sturgeon and walleye.
• The Environmental Damages Fund is administered by Environment Canada to direct funds received as a result of fines, court orders, and voluntary payments to projects that will benefit the health of our natural environment.

Contacts

Media Relations
Environment Canada
819-934-8008