Sarnia

Clean Harbors handed fine for 2017 fire

Clean Harbors has been fined over $100,000 in Sarnia court for violating the Environmental Protection Act.

The company was handed a $100,000 penalty plus a $25,000 victim surcharge to be paid within 120 days.

Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said the fine stems from a fire at the Telfer Road site in St. Clair Township two years ago.

On June 12, 2017, employees reported a small fire in a waste pile that had been deposited in a cell at the landfill.

According to the ministry, smoke was discharged into the air and carried across a residential property about 300 metres northwest of the site.

The waste material that caught fire consisted of a large volume of filter cloth soaked with coolant, oils and fine metal particles.

It's alleged notes made by company employees indicated the material was to be kept wet.

The ministry says the company did not monitor the material adequately that day.

At the time, St. Clair Township fire officials said the material was non-toxic, and not a regulated product. A precautionary shelter-in-place was ordered for homes on the north side of the plant for a short time. No injuries were reported as a result.

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