Teck Resources‘ (TSX: TECK.B) former coal unit has been handed fines totalling approximately $221,000 for nearly 30 cases of environmental breaches in southeastern British Columbia over a two-year period.
On August 8, the B.C. Ministry of Environment issued two fines to Teck Coal Ltd. — now operating as Elk Valley Resources and under new owner Glencore (LSE: GLEN) — for unauthorized waste disposals at its Elkview operations near Sparwood, B.C., during 2021 and 2022.
The larger of the two fines was $168,750, encompassing 27 separate instances of waste discharge that were made without the province’s authorization. In total, more than 109,000 litres of waste were released into the environment.
However, the ministry found these wastes had little to no actual impact to the environment because they were “limited to the heavily disturbed area in and around the [Elkview operations] pit and coal processing plant.”
Equipment failures
The majority of the 29 instances of unauthorized waste discharge were caused by equipment failures, according to the ministry’s investigations.
While the second penalty of $52,000 is smaller, it only covered two incidents, and so the fine was larger per incident as the mining waste did get to nearby creeks that support animal life, the ministry’s report added.
In one of the incidences, the contamination exceeded the province’s guidelines for sulphide and selenium, which can cause deformities in fish and health issues for humans, the ministry said.
In a statement to CBC News on Monday, Teck Coal said that the investigations were undertaken to determine the root causes of each unintended spill, and that repairs have been completed to prevent any future incidents.
The company cleaned up spills and monitored results within allowed ranges afterward, it said.
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