Barry Group was ordered to pay, in St. John’s Provincial Court, a total of $200,000 in penalties for environmental violations that occurred at fish-processing facilities in Witless Bay and Port de Grave, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The fines will be directed to the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund (EDF), which is administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). In addition, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry as a result of this conviction.
The company was charged with contraventions of the disposal-at-sea provisions of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA).
The charges stemmed from inspections carried out, in June 2015, by ECCC enforcement officers who revealed potential violations due to the manner in which workers were disposing of fish-processing waste.
During the inspection of the Witless Bay and Port de Grave operations, officers observed workers dumping crab waste outside of the authorized disposal zone.
Canada has a permit system to control disposal of wastes or other matter into the ocean. Only a small list of wastes or other matter can be considered for permits, and these are individually assessed to ensure that disposal at sea is the environmentally preferable and practical alternative, that pollution is prevented, and that any conflicts with other legitimate uses of the sea are avoided.
Created in 1995, the EDF is a Government-of-Canada program administered by ECCC. The Fund follows the “polluter pays” principle and ensures that court-awarded penalties are used for projects with positive environmental impacts.
