Two charges root from 2018, 2019 violations
Montreal-based holding company 4422236 Canada Inc. was fined $260,000 after pleading guilty to two counts of violating the PCB Regulations and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
An investigation by Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers found that the company, owner of the Baltex Building in Montréal, Q.C., was using a transformer containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a concentration greater than 500 ppm in September 2018.
PCBs have been widely used for decades, particularly as refrigerants and lubricants for certain types of electrical devices, like transformers and capacitors. PCBs are toxic, and measures under the act have been taken to control their use, import, manufacture, storage and release into the environment, according to the federal government.
It also found that, as of June 2019, the company had not complied with the environmental protection compliance order issued by an enforcement officer in November 2018, requiring it to dispose of the transformer.
As a result of this conviction, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.
The fines that 4422236 Canada Inc. have received will be directed to the government’s Environmental Damages Fund and used to support environmental and conservation projects, which are often carried out in the community where the offence occurred.
Created in 1995, the fund is administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada that ensures that court-awarded penalties are used for projects with positive environmental impacts.
Previously, Seleine Mines and the Town of Bow Island in Alberta were also fined for environmental violations.
