Pacific Coast Renewables Corp. was found to be releasing effluent with unsafe levels of contaminants such as ammonia into waterways that reached the Fraser River.
An Abbotsford composting company has been fined nearly $120,000 for allowing effluent with unsafe levels of contaminants drain into water that eventually leads into the Fraser River.
The company, which turns food, unprocessed wood, yard waste and meat carcasses into compost, failed to clean up effluent, which included unsafe levels of contaminants such as biochemical oxygen, chloride, E. coli, fecal coliforms and phosphorus.
The effluent was found in supplemental pond discharge in ditches that drained into the Matsqui Slough and the Fraser River, during nine different inspections, the ministry said.
The company failed to stay under allowable limits for effluent, stop the discharge once staff knew the limits where being exceeded, sample the effluent, and have the pollution control equipment fully operational when discharging, according to the assessment.
For example, in one incident, the amount of biochemical oxygen was more than 13,000 per cent of the allowable 45 mg/L.
At its highest amount, E. coli was found to be 119,900 per cent over the allowable 1,000 CFU/100mL while fecal coliforms were 129,900 per cent over the permitted 1,000 CFU/100mL.
And, the company exceeded the 25.5 mg/L concentration of ammonia allowed by 1,449 per cent.
Investigators also found higher than permitted levels of aluminum, arsenic, cadmium and iron.
The ministry called the effluent toxic, adding it “has a potential for adverse effects on aquatic life, including stickleback fish and benthic invertebrates.”
In her ruling, Stephanie Little, director of the Environmental Management Act, concluded that Pacific Coast Renewables Corp. has failed to comply with several sections of its permit, and imposed the penalties under the Act.