Pollution Fines Far Outweigh The Cost Of Implementing A Pollution Prevention Policy

The B.C. Supreme Court sent a strong message to polluters this summer: there will be a heavy fine to pay for anyone who is caught negligently polluting.

In R v. University of British Columbia, 2020 BCSC 1126, the Court upheld a $1.155 million dollar fine against the University of British Columbia ("UBC") for its role in allowing for the discharge of ammonia into a storm drain outside of its Thunderbird Arena. UBC tried to argue on appeal that it was not responsible for the actions of CIMCO Refrigeration – the contractor it hired to repair the arena's refrigeration system who had physically discharged the ammonia into the storm drain. The B.C. Supreme Court dismissed these arguments, finding that the University's lack of due diligence was "remarkable". Justice Neena Sharma of the B.C. Supreme Court reprimanded UBC for having a pollution prevention policy but failing to extend it to the arena, and for its complete failure to report the discharge to the