BURST
Former Teck steelmaking-coal mining operations in southeast B.C. has been hit with millions in fines for repeated violations of environmental standards.
The company, now called EVR Operations Ltd., received seven Environment Ministry administrative penalties totalling $3,626,750 for delays in constructing and operating three water treatment facilities between 2018 and 2022, and 171 breaches of water quality limits between 2021 and 2023.
The water treatment delays were at its Elkview operation near Sparwood and two treatment facilities at its Fording River operation in Elk Valley in East Kootenay.
Teck has been mining coal for steelmaking in the area for more than a century and EVR Operations is in the process of expanding the Fording River operation to extend its lifespan for several decades.
The Environmental Management Act penalties include:
• $101,250 for 45 days of delay in operating a new water treatment facility at Elkview.
•$1,545,500 for 281 days of delay in operating a new water treatment facility at Fording River. It was the second administrative penalty for the same issue.
• $896,500 for 163 days of delay in operating a second new water treatment facility at Fording River.
• $220,000 for 44 separate failures to comply with selenium water quality limits between April 2021 and March 2023. This is the second administrative penalty for the same issue.
• $342,000 for 74 separate failures to comply with nitrate water quality limits between April 2021 and March 2023.
• $18,000 for three separate failures to comply with selenium water quality limits between March and April 2022.
• $503,500 for 50 separate failures to comply with nitrate water quality limits between February 2021 and March 2023. This is the second administrative penalty for the same issue.
The Fording River expansion had been opposed by local First Nations and environmental groups that say it threatened environmental harms, while the former Teck Coal was still being investigated for polluting waterways in southeast B.C.
Teck was also hit with a $60 million penalty in 2021 for contaminating waterways in the region. The company admitted fault and the record environmental penalty was agreed on in a joint submission between the company and Environment Canada.
Postmedia News has reached out to EVR Operations for an explanation of the delays and water quality breaches and is awaiting a response.
— With files from Tiffany Crawford and The Canadian Press