Harmac Pacific to Pay $135,000 Penalty for Effluent Spill
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Nanaimo Forest Products Ltd., Nanaimo, B.C., Canada, under the trade name Harmac Pacific, has been sentenced to pay a penalty of $135,000, of which $130,000 will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund (EDF). Harmac Pacific pleaded guilty in B.C. provincial court on April 8, 2016, to one offence for contravening subsection 36(3) of the Fisheries Act.
Harmac Pacific experienced a power outage on June 26, 2013, resulting in an estimated 3,750,000 liters of untreated effluent being spilled into Northumberland Channel for approximately 90 min. The power outage impacted the outfall pump house located on the foreshore of Northumberland Channel, which connects to the Strait of Georgia and the Pacific Ocean.
The EDF is administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. Created in 1995, it provides a way to direct funds received as a result of fines, court orders, and voluntary payments to projects that will benefit our natural environment.
As a result of the conviction, Nanaimo Forest Products Ltd. (Harmac Pacific) will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry. The registry was created in 2009 and contains the names of corporations convicted of offences under certain federal environmental laws.
