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A former director of a graphite mining company in the Almaquin Highlands has been fined $30,000 for four violations under Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act.
Ellerton Castor, an officer of Ontario Graphite from 2012 to 2020, was fined for failing to comply with a provincial environment ministry’s director's order to meet sampling requirements regarding the discharge of effluent from an industrial sewage works located on the mine site. The mine is located at Kearney, southeast of Burk’s Falls. The offences took place between Feb. 5, 2017 and June 1, 2018.
Castor was convicted in a Parry Sound court last Aug. 9. A provincial news release of this fine was posted online on the Environment, Conservation and Parks website just before Christmas.
The mine was not in production at the time of the offences, but an on-site gravity-fed industrial sewage works was operating to treat the outflow of acidic water known as acid mine rock drainage.
The sewage works consists of a trench that collects drainage to prevent it from entering nearby waterways. A pump was used to move the drainage from the trench to a polishing pond where lime was added to adjust the pH value. The treated effluent was then discharged into a channel leading into the Magnetawan River.
The court determined the company failed to comply with environment ministry orders on the sampling requirements to record daily pH readings of effluent before it was discharged into the environment.
A ministry investigation revealed there were multiple times that effluent discharges exceeded provincially-set parameters which impaired water quality in the drainage channel entering the river.
On top of the fine, Castor was assessed a victim fine surcharge of $7,500 and given six months to pay up.
