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A fine to set an example
Four million dollars! This is the amount that the Quebec Court fined Tioxide Canada on October 13, 1992. This sentence, which, at the time, was the most severe ever handed down in Canada in an environmental lawsuit, was handed down against to the company after five of its directors pleaded guilty to dumping harmful substances in the river from its plant in Tracy.
The company long resisted pressure from government representatives to comply with regulatory requirements. An inquiry by Environment Quebec, including a search of the head office of Tioxice in Saint-Laurent as well as of the Tracy plant in 1991 resulted in charges being brought against the company under the Fisheries Act. This federal law prohibits the dumping of harmful substances in waters where fish are found.
Three of the $4 million dollars of the fine served to compensate for damages to fish and their habitat. This amount also served to set up in 1993 the Fish Habitat Restoration Fund (FRHAP), which will fund projects to restore habitats in this part of the river.
Not only did this hefty fine result in Tioxide paying the fine and making the changes required to its effluents after being convicted, but it also served to convince other companies that they must comply with the program for reducing toxic liquid dumping, enforced as part of the Canada-Quebec Agreement on the St. Lawrence in 1989.
Date modified: 2008/06/03 – Important Notices
