FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CITY OF MONCTON & THREE OTHERS CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH DECOMMISSIONED LANDFILL SITE

MONCTON, February 7, 2002- Enforcement Officers of Environment Canada’s Atlantic Region have laid charges under Section 36(3) of the federal Fisheries Act, relating to toxic leachate allegedly being discharged from a decommissioned landfill owned by the City of Moncton.

Charges have been laid against the City of Moncton; Mr. Geoff Greenough, the Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Moncton; Gemtec Ltd., an engineering consulting firm; and Mr. Robert Lutes, an employee of Gemtec Ltd.

The charges allege that leachate samples from the decommissioned Moncton landfill are acutely lethal to fish, and that the leachate enters Jonathan Creek, a tributary of the Petitcodiac River. As well, it is alleged that the landfill closure plan selected by the City of Moncton was not in compliance with the Fisheries Act.

Environment Canada’s investigation was initiated as a result of evidence provided by Sentinelles Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, a local Moncton environmental group.

The four parties charged will make a first appearance in Provincial Court in Moncton on April 3, 2002.

For further information contact:
David Aggett,
Enforcement Division,
Environment Canada, Atlantic Region
(902) 426-1925