Cavendish Farms Pleads Guilty to Federal Environmental Charge

SUMMERSIDE, May 17, 2004 - Cavendish Farms (a division of Irving Pulp and Paper Limited) pleaded guilty to one charge under subsection 36(3) of the federal Fisheries Act in Summerside Provincial Court today. A second charge, against Cavendish Farms’ operations’ manager, was dropped.

On May 9, 2002, Cavendish Farms allowed potato leachate from an organic waste disposal site (rock pit) it operated on the Clermont Station Road, near New Annan, Prince Edward Island (PEI), to enter a brook that flows into the Barbara Weit River. Under the federal Fisheries Act, it is an offence to deposit, or to permit the deposition of, a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish.

A provincial court judge ordered Cavendish Farms to pay a penalty of $30,000. This includes a fine of $10,000 and a payment of $20,000 to the Government of Canada's Environmental Damages Fund, which is administered by Environment Canada.

The Environmental Damages Fund is rooted in the “polluter pays” principle. Courts can use the Fund to ensure that compensation is provided by convicted polluters for the damage that they cause to the environment. The Fund also gives the court a way to ensure that financial penalties imposed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and the Fisheries Act are used for environmental protection purposes.

The conviction is the result of an investigation by Environment Canada's Enforcement, Atlantic Region Office, with assistance from the PEI Department of Environment and Energy and the Summerside office of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Environment Canada's Enforcement staff investigates potential pollution offences under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 99) and the federal Fisheries Act. They help ensure that companies, government employees, and the general public comply with legislation and regulations that protect Atlantic Canada's environment.

For more information on Environment Canada’s Atlantic Region programs, please visit the Green Lane at: http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/index_e.html.

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