Canadian trucking company fined $37K for failing to clean up fuel spill
A trucking company has been fined for failing to promptly clean up a fuel spill after a 2019 accident in northern Canada.
Authorities in Ontario said carrier Jagger Canada Inc. was recently convicted by the provincial court of three charges under the Environmental Protection Act and was fined $30,000, along with a $7,500 victim fine surcharge.
Jagger Canada Inc. is an over-the-road carrier based in the town of Etobicoke, near Toronto. The company has five drivers and four trucks, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Jagger’s offenses include failing to remove all contamination following a tractor-trailer accident; failing to hire a contractor to complete the spill cleanup and submit confirmation; and failing to submit to the ministry a written summary outlining actions that were taken to restore the environment by the ministry’s deadline.
Jagger Canada officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from FreightWaves.
The incident occurred in November 2019, when authorities received a report that a commercial truck owned and operated by Jagger Canada had been involved in an accident resulting in the spill near Neys Provincial Park, about 18 miles from the town of Marathon.
“Ministry staff attended the scene of the accident [on Nov. 18] and observed a visible fuel sheen on the highway pavement,” Ontario provincial authorities said in a news release. “They also observed oil and fuel amongst the rocks and in the snow on the highway embankment. The spill was approximately [49 feet] from a running stream.”
About a month later, Ontario officials contacted Jagger and said the company had failed to contact the ministry about the cleanup and had a legal responsibility to complete it.
A few days later, after having not received confirmation from Jagger about the spill or cleanup, the ministry issued an order for the carrier to hire a qualified contractor, conduct the cleanup and submit a written report by January 2020.
Jagger Canada did not comply with the January 2020 deadline, according to Ontario officials.
Ontario provincial officials were eventually informed by Jagger’s insurance provider that the spill cleanup was completed at the site on Oct. 30, 2020. Officials inspected the site and concluded they were satisfied with the cleanup.
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