NAPANEE – The operator of the Richmond Landfill near Napanee has been fined and ordered to be more diligent in its monitoring of the site after it was discovered that one of its surface-water collection facilities was discharging water when it shouldn’t have been.

Waste Management of Canada Corp. was issued a provincial officer’s order and a provincial offences notice by the Ministry of the Environment in early January after provincial inspectors found that one of the company’s storage ponds was leaking an estimated 20,000 litres of water per day.

The fine was for $365, said Michel Finn, spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment.

“We have no indication of environmental impacts,” Finn said. “Basically, the order was issued to address compliance issues with the certificate of approval and the company is now in full compliance with the order.”

Officials with Waste Management said there was no harmful discharge in the release of the surface water and that testing supported the statement. (See sidebar.)

Environmental lawyer Richard Lindgren of the Canadian Environmental Law Association, who represents the Concerned Citizens — Tyendinaga & Environs, said he was shocked when he heard of the breach.

“It’s a fairly significant and quite unfortunate incident,” he said. “To our mind, it raises serious questions about the viability of having a large, engineered landfill in such a sensitive setting.”

Normally, surface water is collected in ponds. When the water reaches a certain level, it is then tested and discharged after receiving permission from the Environment Ministry.

The water from one of the site’s surface water ponds continued to flow into the nearby Beechwood ditch after an authorized discharge on Nov. 25.

“When we found it we took action and we closed it, but then we later discovered it was leaking,” said Waste Management spokesman Wes Muir.

“We brought the contractor in and fixed the problem.”

A faulty valve was to blame for the continued discharge, Muir said. A statement issued by the company Tuesday, however, said employees at the landfill accidentally left a valve open after a routine discharge in November.

The company has complied with the ministry’s demands, Muir said.

“It’s basically an administrative order that just says, ‘Look, you’ve got to tighten up your operation here and make sure this doesn’t happen,’ ” Muir explained.

“In the grand scheme of things — although we’re concerned about it and we took extra orders and we’re following the provincial officer’s order and doing more diligent adherence to some of the mechanisms that are going on — but other than that, there was no impact to the environment or human health.”

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