interesting read
some big fines
SALMON ARM, B.C. - A British Columbia development corporation (a division of 0702905 B.C. Ltd.) will pay $375,000 in reparation costs and fines after pleading guilty to illegally altering fish habitat in the Shuswap Lake area.
In his disposition, Judge Edmond De Walle fined the Corporation $5,000 and levied the additional sums of $70,000 to be paid to the Fraser Basin Council to support conservation and protection of fish and fish habitat in the Shuswap Lake area, and $300,000 to be held in trust to pay for habitat remediation of the damaged site. This work will be undertaken by the Corporation, overseen by Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) habitat biologists, and will include the replanting, irrigation, and fencing off of sensitive habitat from the upland development, as well as ongoing monitoring.
The case began June 12, 2007, when DFO launched an investigation around land clearing done between early January 2007 and June of the same year on development property known as “Old Town Bay” near Sicamous, B.C. In early 2009, after a lengthy and extensive investigation, the Corporation was charged with clearing forest and vegetation from seven hectares of a relatively rare landform in the Eagle River delta area on Shuswap Lake. This investigation was coordinated by DFO’s Conservation and Protection unit, and incorporated expertise from various DFO program areas (Habitat, Restoration, Stock Assessment and IT Services) as well as outside agencies including the Department of Justice and the Provincial Ministry of the Environment.
