City of Kawartha Lakes to pay $75,000 for Fisheries Act violations

The City of Kawartha Lakes has been ordered to pay $75,000 in connection with 2014 maintenance work that impacted a fish-bearing waterway.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, in August 2014, a city-hired contractor conducted maintenance work on the Washington Drain in Lindsay. However, the work resulted in a sediment release into a fish-bearing waterway.

Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers investigated the incident and determined that the sediment concentrations released during the work were “deleterious to fish.”

It was also determined that the work was undertaken without taking adequate steps to mitigate the release of sediments into the waterway.

On Thursday, the City agreed to enter a diversion agreement with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada after Environment and Climate Change Canada laid charges under the Fisheries Act.

As a result, the city agrees to pay $75,000 to the Environmental Damages Fund as well as update its standard operating procedures for drain works and publish a notice of the incident on the city’s website.

Charges will be withdrawn once all measures outlined in the diversion agreement have been met, as determined by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.