Kitimat, B.C.- West Fraser has been penalized a total of  $130,000 after pleading guilty in Kitimat Provincial Court  in connection with a spill of pulp mill effluent  in June of 2007. 

 

Untreated pulp mill effluent from the Eurocan Mill in Kitimat,  spilled into an oxbow (a U-shaped bend in a river) connected to the Kitimat River, waters frequented by fish.

 

The $130,000 penalty to West Fraser includes fines of $5,000, a payment of $65,000 to the University of Northern British Columbia for the purposes of conservation and protection of fish and fish habitat in north-western British Columbia, and a payment of $60,000 for deposit into the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund of British Columbia.

 

The investigation revealed that West Fraser had not been duly diligent in the maintenance of the effluent treatment systems, specifically the main effluent line, at the Eurocan mill.

Untreated pulp mill effluent has a number of characteristics such as high pH and resin acids that are lethal to fish and other aquatic life.