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Media Advisory
Tioxide Co. And five of its directors this morning pleaded guilty before the Cour de Québec in Sorel to charges laid against them on October 13, 1992, under Section 36 (3) of the federal Fisheries Act. The charges were laid by Environment Canada after Tioxide’s Tracy plant discharged harmful substances into the St. Lawrence River.
The judge ordered the company to pay $4 million. Of this amount, $3 million will be used for projects that protect "fish and fish habitat" (PDF Version, 122 Ko), (as defined in Section 79,2 (f) of the Fisheries Act), while $1 million will be collected as a fine. This sentence is the harshest handed down in Canada on an environmental issue.
Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service and the Fondation québécoise de la faune will oversee the projects for restoring habitat, some of which are in the Sorel—Berthier area. These projects will be presented to the court on June 22.
The court also ordered that the section of Tioxide’s plant in Tracy that was discharging the pollutants remain closed.
The accused were charged under subsection 36 (3) of the Fisheries Act, which states that "no person shall deposit or permit the deposit of a deleterious substance of any type in water frequented by fish or in any place under any conditions where the deleterious substance or any other deleterious substance that results from the deposit of the deleterious substance may enter any such water."
Further information:
Guy Martin
Environment Canada
(514) 330-1558 (beeper)
(514) 283-6930
Date modified: 1992/10/13 – Important Notices
