Kidd Creek Mines has been fined a total of $40,000 on 10 counts of violating the Environmental Protection Act. The fines were levied in Timmins Provincial Court on Monday, April 25. Provincial Court Judge Richard Lajoie fined the company $4,000 on each of the 10 counts. The maximum fine for each count was $5,000.
Kidd Creek had been charged with allowing excessive amounts of sulphur dioxide to escape from its zinc and copper refineries in a series of incidents from January to December, 1986.
Six of the counts involved emissions above government standards while the other four involved emissions which damaged vegetation on adjoining properties. The company pleaded guilty on all 10 counts, and nine other counts were withdrawn.
Sulphur dioxide is a byproduct of the refining of copper and zinc. Kidd Creek has a state-of-the-art process which converts sulphur dioxide into sulphuric acid and is environmentally one of the safest processes anywhere.
Under normal circumstances more than 99% of the sulphur dioxide is captured and converted. But unless proper temperatures are maintained in the converters, sulphur dioxide can escape into the atmosphere.
Be the first to comment on "Kidd Creek fined for environment law violations"