Photo courtesy Mercer Peace River.

By Erika Rolling

Peace River

Mercer pulp mill fined $1M for violating federal act

Oct 15, 2024 | 12:01 PM

On October 11, 2024, Mercer Peace River Pulp Ltd. was ordered to pay a $1 million fine for dumping over 30 million litres of wasterwater into the Peace River back in 2021.

The company pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Fisheries Act back on September 4, 2024 for the incident.

An investigation done by Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers determined on April 14, 2021, the pulp mill north of the Town of Peace River had deposited or permitted the release of the effluent that was “acutely lethal” into fish bearing waters.

This violated subsection 36(6) of the Fisheries Act, in subsection 6(5) of the Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations.

The pulp mill operates a wastewater treatment system with a spill pond that treats the wastewater that has spilled or during unusual operating conditions before being released into the Peace River. The offence occurred during a maintenance shutdown of the mill and the spill pond did not function as designed due to limited capacity.

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Mercer Peace River has since taken steps to increase the capacity of the spill pond by removing sludge and upgrading the associated pumping system.

The $1 million fine will go to the Government of Canada’s Environment Damages Fund. The company’s name will also be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry as a result of this conviction.