A London dry cleaner has been fined for the mishandling of chemicals that can cause damage to the environment.
On June 7, Peter’s Drive-In Cleaners Ltd., located on Adelaide Street North, pleaded guilty to two counts of contravening Tetrachloroethylene regulations of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said Friday.
The business was fined $4,000 for each offence, while Barbara Jovanovic, one of the dry cleaner’s owners, pleaded guilty to one count of contravening the regulations and was fined another $2,000, officials said. The fines will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund.
The fines stem from a June 2015 inspection of the business by ECCC enforcement officers that found wastewater containing the chemical had not been taken to a waste management facility and that records had not been maintained, in violation of the Tetrachloroethylene (Use in Dry Cleaning and Reporting Requirements) Regulations, ECCC said.
The chemical, also known as perchloroethylene, is used in dry cleaning and, if disposed of improperly, can enter the environment through soil, damaging plants and affecting groundwater. It was added to the CEPA’s “List of Toxic Substances” in March 2000. Substances on the list may have an “immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment” or “may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health,” ECCC said.