Environmental fines for relatively minor offences are soaring.
Scott Environmental Group Limited owns and operates waste disposal sites in Kingston, to treat, process and/or transfer a wide variety of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. Each site operates under a detailed Environmental Compliance Approval, which defines where waste can be stored.
At 633 Fortune Crescent, all waste storage is required to be conducted indoors. In February 2011, a ministry inspection revealed two roll off bins containing solid non-hazardous gravel and asphalt parked outside the building. The company was fined $25,000 for this offence.
Similarly, at 650 Fortune Crescent, all tanker trucks containing liquid industrial waste and/or hazardous waste must be parked in a secured area. A March 2011 inspection found two tankers containing waste aviation fuel, parked in an unsecured parking lot with no staff present. The company was fined $60,000 for this offence.
Scott Environmental has previous convictions. The total fine was $85,000 plus victim fine surcharges of $21,250. This is an unprecedented amount considering the relatively small quantity of waste involved, which was always contained, located on licensed sites, and caused no environmental harm.