British Columbia’s Quarterly Environmental Enforcement Summaries for the first and second quarters of 2017 are now publicly available, outlining various environmental enforcement actions taken by the Province, along with associated penalties and fines.

Enforcement in the first and second quarter of 2017 included:

• 26 orders
• 98 administrative sanctions
• 893 violation tickets
• 5 administrative penalties
• 27 court convictions
• One community environmental justice forum

These enforcement actions resulted in over $994,000 in penalties. This brings the total (since 2006) to over $14 million in penalties levied against companies and individuals for non-compliance. To date, over 25,300 enforcement actions have been published in the summary and entered into the ministry’s environmental violations database. 

Violations included in the quarterly summaries include hunting and fishing without a licence, open burning out of season, non-compliance with environmental legislation and introducing waste into the environment.

Additionally, the latest summaries now include enforcement actions from the Agricultural Land Commission: including stop work orders, remediation orders, and administrative penalties issued under the Agricultural Land Commission Act.

Notable enforcement actions for this period include:

• Cobble Hill Holdings Ltd.’s waste discharge permit was cancelled under the Environmental Management Act.
• A pesticide applicator received the first administrative penalty under the Integrated Pest Management Act for failing to have a current licence while applying pesticides to a nut farm near Kelowna.
• Teck Coal Ltd. was convicted for the unauthorized discharges of sediment-laden water into a creek, resulting in a $300,000 court penalty. 
• Teck Coal Ltd. also received a $200,000 court penalty in response to the death of bighorn sheep after the sheep ingested blasting materials that were on site. The supplier of the explosives, Maxam Explosives Ltd., received a $150,000 penalty.
• Two individuals were charged under the Wildlife Act for harassing wildlife with use of a motor vehicle as they attempted to ride a swimming moose by jumping on the animal from a boat. Both persons were fined $4,300 each.

To view the full Quarterly Environmental Enforcement Summary, please visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/research-monitoring-reporting/reporting/environmental-enforcement-reporting/quarterly-environmental-enforcement-summary