Town of Ponoka and a Lougheed company creatively fined by Province for environmental issues.
The Provincial Court of Alberta has handed Smith’s Service (Lougheed) Ltd. a $20,000 penalty after the company pleaded guilty to willfully conducting an activity without approval.
The incident occurred near the Village of Lougheed on July 22, 2010.
The company burned a large pile of garbage – estimated to be nine metres wide by 18 metres long and about two metres high – on its property.
The pile included metal, plastic, styrofoam, wire, oil filters, aerosol paint cans, as well as a refrigerator.
These items are prohibited debris and it is an offense to use an open fire to burn the materials without obtaining approval from Alberta Environment and Water.
The penalty includes a creative sentence that directs more than $16,000 to a project that will supply sealable bins with secondary containment to the 12 waste transfer sites in Flagstaff County, so residents can properly dispose of their household hazardous wastes year-round.
The remaining funds will be paid as a fine.
The Town of Ponoka was fined $70,000 after pleading guilty to one count under the Fisheries Act, related to the release of municipal wastewater, effluent from their wastewater lagoon, into the Battle River.
The presence of dead fish in the river June, 2009 alerted authorities to the problem.
Of the total $70,000 penalty, $3,750 is a fine, and $66,250 is to be paid into the Environmental Damages Fund, to be used for the conservation and protection of fisheries and fish habitat in the Battle River, its tributaries and watershed.
As well, the court ordered the Town of Ponoka to make a presentation at the upcoming Alberta Water and Wasterwater Operator’s Assoc. conference, to publish an article in the town newspaper, and to post educational information about the incident on a number of websites.
The town will work with Environment Canada and Alberta Environment to deliver the requirements of their sentencing.
Creative sentencing provides the court with a range of sentencing options in addition to fines or imprisonment that address the harm caused by an offence and the prevention of future offences.
Alberta courts have had access to creative sentencing provisions since 1993, with the proclamation of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act.
Since then, other pieces of provincial legislation such as the Water Act, Forest & Prairie Protection Act, Occupational Health & Safety Act, and the Public Lands Act have also adopted similar creative sentencing provisions.
Leslie Cholowsky
Editor
