Chronic Non-Compliance Earns Cement-Maker Substantial Environmental Fines

On December 4, 2015¹, Essroc Canada Inc. was fined a total of $200,000, plus a victim surcharge of $50,000, for discharging dust into the natural environment and failing to notify the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change ("MOECC") of the discharge, both contrary to the Environmental Protection Act (EPA).² The size of the fine surprised a number of observers unfamiliar with the back story. While the MOECC is often willing to work with a company for years to bring its environmental performance into compliance, the MOECC's patience is not inexhaustible.

Essroc operates a large cement manufacturing facility near the town of Picton in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Between 2003 and 2011, neighbouring residents notified the MOECC some 27 times about ongoing dust emissions from the facility. In addition to instances of dust coating homes and cars, complainants reported a number of "catastrophic occurrences" at the facility, including an ash cloud "that looked