Teck charged for effluent disharge into Columbia River
By Kyra Hoggan
Teck Trail Operations was officially charged Friday in relation to accidentally-discharged effluent with a higher-than-allowable pH-level, according to a press release issued by Teck representative Richard Deane.
Deane said the incident occurred March 5, 2011, and the company is being charged under the Fisheries and Environmental Management Acts. He said the water used to clean their boilers was discharged at a level of 9.1, as compared to the limit of 8.5, “which means high alkaline.”
“We did commence an investigation to prevent a recurrence of this type of situation,” he said, adding this has led to, “new treatment systems, new equipment and new control mechanisms.”
Deane said a third-party environmental impact assessment determined no indication that there was an impact on fish or long-term environmental effects from this incident.
“We’ve recently completed a $5.8 million spill reduction project at 245 entry points at Trail Operations to significantly reduce spills into the Columbia River,” he added. “We’re currently implementing an $11.2 million, real-time monitoring system to monitor our effluent and process streams to allow for quick detection and correction of any abnormal condition.”
As for what ultimate impact the charges will have on Teck’s bottom line, Deane declined to guess.
“The charges are just the start of the legal process,” he said. “I can’t speculate what the outcome will be at this time.”
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