Fines of $201,500, plus the 25% victim fine surcharge, have been imposed on an environmental consultant, his company and its client, for violations of the Ontario Water Resources Act. The client was also sent to jail.
The convictions relate to the construction of wells on a site in Belleville owned by Sinclair Landing Inc, of which James Sinclair is the Director. While the wells did not cause adverse impacts to the local community and environment, they were constructed by an unlicensed well technician, records related to the wells were not submitted as required, wells were not properly abandoned and false or misleading information was received.
Senior environmental consultant Bruce Brown (a PhD geochemist) was fined $35,000 and placed on probation for a year, i.e. ordered not to drill wells (which his lawyer says isn’t his business anyway). His company, Bruce A. Brown Associates Limited, was fined $126,000. Their client, James Sinclair, was fined $8,500 and sentenced to 15 days in jail and placed on probation for a year. Sinclair Landing Inc was fined $32,000. All fines are subject to the 25% victim fine surcharge. They were given 24 months to pay the fines. Appeals have been filed.
For a previous case involving Bruce Brown, see our Jun/ July 2003 Environews.