Bruce Power to appeal penalty

[Spiel]

Bruce Power to appeal penalty

MOE imposes $24,900 administrative penalty after chlorine discharge into Lake Huron

 

 

JONATHON JACKSON / owensoundsuntimes.com

 

 

Bruce Power will appeal a penalty handed down by the Ministry of the Environment for a chlorine discharge into Lake Huron last January that killed more than 800 fish.

 

A news release from the ministry said an environmental penalty order was issued "for a sodium hypochlorite that caused a fish kill at the Bruce B Generating Station.

 

"The discharge of a chlorine-based solution into the cooling water intake of the Bruce B generating station impaired the waters of Lake Huron resulting in the death of hundreds of large game fish," the release said.

 

The initial penalty was $30,000 but it was reduced to $24,900 "based on Bruce Power's compliance history and the use of preventative and mitigative measures," the ministry said.

 

But the company wants the penalty wiped out entirely.

 

"Although Bruce Power takes any environmental event seriously, it intends to appeal the penalty based on its position the release occurred in an area of the plant where water quality in the lake was not impaired and regulatory limits were not exceeded," the company said in its own news release.

 

The release of sodium hypochlorite on Jan. 3 was "accidental" and the company "promptly" notified the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Environment, Bruce Power said. "Given Bruce Power's intent to appeal, we will not be commenting further on the details of this situation."

 

Company spokesman Steve Cannon did clarify, however, that the penalty is an administrative one by the MOE and does not represent a fine or a conviction for any offence.

 

The MOE spokeswoman who issued the ministry's news release could not be reached for comment.