Water Act violators named in B.C. gov’t report

BY STEPHANIE IP, THE PROVINCE DECEMBER 11, 2013 

A paving company and two individuals are being publicly identified for Water Act violations, as the province moves to name and shame perpetrators of environmental abuse in an attempt to collect more than $1 million in outstanding fines.

A total of 18 businesses and 155 individuals are listed in a new report titled Closing the Gap, which names those with overdue fines and outstanding court penalties for environmental infractions in B.C.

The report covers 2004 to 2012 and notes that during that period, 80 per cent of court-ordered fines were paid. That figure, however, represents only 40 per cent of the total dollar amount owed.

Of the $1.9 million in fines owed to the B.C. government during that nine-year period, only $800,000 was paid. That leaves $1.1 million outstanding. Another $400,000 in fines is also owed to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

“It is unacceptable that 60 per cent of environmental court fines have gone unpaid in this province,” Environment Minister Mary Polak said in a statement.

The largest fine owing belongs to Alpha Manufacturing Inc., whose Waste Management Act violation netted them a $650,000 court fine.

Those listed for Water Act violations are Selkirk Paving, which owes $58,650 to the province, and Stanley D. Bobowski and Marcel Joseph Bruneau, each of whom owes $230 to In October, The Province asked the B.C. government for the names of those who owed fines under the Water Act and was told “privacy concerns and other legal reasons” prevented their release.