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City
of Moncton and Three Others Charged by Environment Canada
City of
Moncton and Three Others Charged by Environment Canada
(Moncton
- February, 2002) - Enforcement Officers of Environment Canada's
Atlantic Region have laid charges under Section 36(3) of the
federal Fisheries Act, relating to toxic leachate allegedly being
discharged into a tributary of the Petitcodiac River from a decommissioned
landfill owned by the City of Moncton.
Charges
have been laid against the City of Moncton; Mr. Geoff Greenough,
the Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Moncton; Gemtec
Ltd., an engineering consulting firm; and Mr. Robert Lutes, an
employee of Gemtec Ltd.
The charges
allege that leachate samples from the decommissioned Moncton
landfill are acutely lethal to fish, and that the leachate enters
Jonathan Creek, a tributary of the Petitcodiac River. As well,
it is alleged that the landfill closure plan selected by the
City of Moncton was not in compliance with the Fisheries Act.
Environment
Canada's investigation was initiated as a result of evidence
provided by the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, a New Brunswick environmental
group dedicated to protecting their watershed by enforcing compliance
with Canada's environmental laws. The group was assisted in its
investigation by the Ontario-based Environmental Bureau of Investigation.
The announcement
of these charges signals the first case in Atlantic Canada where
a municipal government has been charged for allegedly violating
Section 36(3) of the federal Fisheries Act, which prohibits the
discharge of toxic substances into waterways frequented by fish,
and the first case in Canada where an engineering consulting
firm has been charged for allegedly producing recommendations
which were not in compliance with the Fisheries Act.
Daniel
LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper commended
Environment Canada for carrying out their investigation in accordance
with their mandate. "The message that is being sent out
today is that no one in Canada is above the law when it comes
to complying with environmental regulations in this country,
including people who give out advice that have enormous implications
on our environment."
"The
other important message that we see is that government needs
the help of citizen groups like ours, dedicated to patrolling
and safeguarding our waterways, to ensure that environmental
laws are enforced in all regions of this country", concluded
LeBlanc.
The four
parties charged will make a first appearance in Provincial Court
in Moncton on April 3, 2002.
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INFORMATION:
David Aggett, Environment Canada, Tel (902)
426-1925
Daniel LeBlanc, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, Tel. (506) 388-5337
www.petitcodiac.org
Mark Mattson, Environmental Bureau of Investigation, Tel. (416)
568-6036, www.e-b-i.net
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