Teck Coal Ltd. will provide $285,000 to the non-profit Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation and pay a $15,000 penalty as a result of three Environmental Management Act charges related to maintenance work at Elkview Operations (EVO) in 2012.

During maintenance work on the Goddard sedimentation pond in August and September 2012, EVO did not notify the regulator of changes to work in accordance with its permits. On September 11 and 19, 2012, sediment-laden water was discharged which flowed into the Elk River. The September 19 discharge was not reported immediately to regulators as is required, Teck noted in a March 28 news release.

There was no human health risk associated with the discharges, and no indication of long-term impacts to fish or the environment. Following the incidents, EVO implemented improved incident identification and reporting procedures, and enhanced training for employees and contractors, the company stated.

“We are committed to learning from these incidents and continually work to further strengthen our environmental performance,” said Nic Milligan, Teck’s Manager, Community & Government Affairs. “These occurrences were thoroughly investigated at the time they occurred and measures were implemented to prevent a re-occurrence.”

e-KNOW

Article Share