THUNDER BAY – A Toronto-based gold mining company has been fined for an offence under the Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act.
New Gold Inc. pleaded guilty and was fined $100,000 for failing to comply with the conditions of an approval under the Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act.
Court heard that in August 2015, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry provided New Gold with approval under the Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act to construct a network of dams and diversions, with a number of conditions, for the company’s Rainy River project site. On March 21, 2016, New Gold advised the ministry of an incident at its Teeple Dam. Ministry representatives attended the location and observed water overtopping the incomplete dam. This caused a portion of the dam to erode, and sediment from the dam entered the Pinewood River downstream.
The ministry’s investigation determined that New Gold was aware of the incomplete status of the Teeple Dam prior to the incident. It also revealed that the company failed to meet the conditions of the approval by allowing water both to flow through the network before the design specifications had been met and to impound behind the incomplete Teeple Dam. Upon learning of the incident, New Gold took remedial action to address the issue in consultation with the ministry.
Justice of the Peace Patricia Clysdale-Cornell heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, in Rainy River, on July 11, 2018.
To report a natural resources violation, call the MNRF TIPS line at 1-877-847-7667 toll-free any time or contact your local ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). And visit Ontario.ca/mnrftips to view an interactive, searchable map of unsolved cases. You may be able to provide information that will help solve a case.
