A British Columbia court has ordered an international engineering firm to pay a $1 million fine after an investigation into the deaths of dozens of fish for releasing a hazardous material into a Metro Vancouver creek.
A statement from Environment and Climate Change Canada said Keller Foundations Ltd. was ordered to pay the fine last month after pleading guilty in B.C. court to one charge of violating federal fisheries laws.
The department said an investigation into the deaths of about 85 cutthroat trout in April 2018 found that Keller’s construction activities resulted in the discharge of concrete leachate into groundwater that flows into West Vancouver’s Larson Creek.
It said most of the substances had elevated pH levels and were known to be harmful to fish, including cutthroat trout.
As a result of the conviction, the department said the company’s name will be added to a register of environmental offenders and the fine will go to Canada’s Environmental Damage Fund.
Representatives for the U.K.-based company in Vancouver did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
environmental fish