British Columbia fuel-supply company fined $200,000 for offences under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

ABBOTSFORD, BC, June 11, 2020 /CNW/ - Canadians value a safe and clean environment. Environment and Climate Change Canada's enforcement officers enforce the laws that protect Canada's wildlife, air, water, and natural environment.

On May 21, 2020, Scamp Industries Ltd., a fuel supplier based in Western Canada, was fined $200,000 in the Provincial Court of British Columbia after pleading guilty on June 17, 2019, to five counts of transferring petroleum products into a storage-tank system where storage-tank-system identification numbers were not visible. This action is contrary to subparagraph 29(b)(i) of the Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum Products Regulations, made pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The penalty will be directed to the Government of Canada's Environmental Damages Fund.

In March 2015, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers inspected several gas stations on federal and Indigenous land in the south-central area of British Columbia, including the Kamloops and Salmon Arm areas, to monitor compliance with the Regulations. During these inspections, the enforcement officers found that Scamp Industries Ltd. had been delivering fuel to a number of unregistered tank systems and a number of tank systems that did not display the required identification numbers.

In January 2013, Scamp Industries Ltd. was issued a written warning for delivering fuel to a gas station in Chilliwack, which had not registered its storage-tank systems with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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Quick facts

    --  The Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum
        Products Regulations, which came into force in 2008, help reduce the
        risk of releases of petroleum products from storage-tank systems located
        on federal or Indigenous land (referred to as aboriginal land in the
        Regulations) and from systems operated by or that provide a service to
        federal works or that are operated or owned by the Crown.
    --  The Regulations apply to storage-tank systems with a capacity of more
        than 230 litres, which contain petroleum products such as gasoline,
        diesel, and home-heating oil, or allied petroleum products.
    --  The Storage Tank Systems for Petroleum Products and Allied Petroleum
        Products Regulations require that owners identify their storage-tank
        systems to Environment and Climate Change Canada before operating the
        system.
    --  The Federal Identification Registry for Storage Tank Systems is the
        online database where storage-tank system owners enter information about
        their storage-tank systems to receive an Environment and Climate Change
        Canada identification number.
    --  The Environmental Damages Fund is administered by Environment and
        Climate Change Canada. It was created in 1995 to provide a mechanism for
        directing funds received as a result of fines, court orders, and
        voluntary payments to priority projects that will benefit our natural
        environment.

Associated links

    --  Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and related documents
    --  Storage tanks for petroleum and allied petroleum products
    --  Environmental Damages Fund

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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada