With another hot summer ahead, and what sound like another bad fire season, this was very alarming. There were JUST UNDER 100 FINES for mishandling burning substances, and the use of fire when banned

On Tuesday (May 28^th) the BC government released its quarterly environmental enforcement summaries for the third and fourth quarters of 2018. 

The summaries detail a total of 1,728 environmental enforcement actions taken by the provincial government during this time period, resulting in just under $900 thousand in penalties and fines.

In total, thee issued 246 orders, administrative sanctions, court convictions, and administrative penalties issued ... plus 2,412 violation tickets.  Most frequent violations were for actions that were in violation of the Wildlife Act (1,040), the Fisheries Act (375), and the Off-Road Vehicle Act with 344 violations.

Fines for these offenses totaled $1,092,465 in fines in 2018.

Some of the violations however would surprise you.  For example, there were MULTIPLE tickets handed out, through-out the province, due to individuals driving with a loaded fire arm in their vehicle ... failure to comply with Angling, hunting, firearm violations, failure to stop a vehicle and provide information to an officer ... illegal discharging litter and/or waste – this also included discharging waste from recreational vehicle ... multiple violations for operating unlicensed off-road vehicles ... NOT ONLY selling meat from wild game, but ALSO the selling LIVE wildlife.

With another hot summer ahead ... and what sounds like another bad fire season ... this was very alarming.  BC conservation officers issued tickets related to activities that could spark a wildfire, and that resulted in just under 100 fines handed out for the mishandling of burning substances, and the use of fire when banned. 

In the face of one of the worst fire seasons in British Columbia’s history, one which saw more than 1.3 million hectares burned, fines for violations that could start a wildfire were $1,150 each ($108,900 in total).

BC saw one of the worst fire seasons in history,
with more than 1.3 million hectares burned

Others environmental violations included dozens for the use of illegal salmon fishing methods including prohibited gear, or with prohibited bait ... there were Stop Work Orders issued due to the unauthorized storage and deposition of fill materials within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) ... orders were issued in response to runoff water causing soil erosion and degradation ... and again of concern was the fact that orders were issued for failing to make sure vessels and equipment, from which ignitable vapours could be discharged, were safely vented to the atmosphere

Also troubling were a large number of orders issued in response to non-compliance with previously issued orders and conditions regarding the environment.  These included continued contamination of groundwater ... along with an order requiring initiation of abandonment work, in accordance with regulations under the Oil and Gas Activities Act -- just to name two.

Then there were also serious concerns including failure to comply with a waste discharge permit issued under the Environmental Management Act for a kraft pulp mill, which required bivalent sulphur discharges to not exceed the average hourly limit specified in the permit ... or what could be considered minor ones such as trespassing on enclosed land or premises, or engaging prohibited activity – or the illegal cutting, removing or destroying of timber from crown lands.

Then there were the failures.  Failure to comply ... failure to produce documents and identification ... failure to obey signs ... and failure to pay park fees for camping.

Currently, nearly 33,000 enforcement actions have been published in the summary and entered into the ministry’s environmental violations database.

Enforcement actions of note, during this period, include:

• Radium Resort Group was fined twice – once for introducing waste-causing pollution and second for open burning of prohibited construction materials. Total of the two fines equaled $200,000, and of that total, $190,000 was directed to Habitat Conservation Trust Fund. 
• Mackenzie Pulp Mill Corporation received three violation penalties, for a total of $81,100 for failure to maintain a recovery boiler and failing to comply with permit limits for bivalent sulphur compounds and particulate matter 
• Canadian Pacific Railway Limited received a penalty for $31,500 for to comply with the terms of a waste discharge permit in Golden, which required the company to ensure that wastewater discharged from a pair of treatment plants met standards for biochemical oxygen demand, pH levels and toxicity 
• Savage Creek Golf Course Ltd. received a penalty of $70,000 for significantly exceeding fill-level maximums, while developing an 18-hole Richmond golf course expansion in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

You can click here for a full list of environmental enforcement violations