Polluters Pay More If They Don’t Keep Water Clean.

Polluters Pay More If They Don’t Keep Water Clean.
The days of a “slap on the wrist” are a thing of the past with seven figure penalties being assessed even against companies that inadvertently contribute to water pollution.
- By Isaac Rudik

Along with acting against other pollution issues, the federal and provincial governments are cracking down on water contamination caused by industrial, agricultural and municipal sources. Not only is Ottawa pouring more money into dealing with water pollution, it’s nearly doubling the number of inspectors and enforcement officers to more than 320.

Unlike water itself, it is increasingly difficult for businesses to drip through the cracks as anti-pollution laws and regulations covering water get tougher – and fines get steeper. The days of a “slap on the wrist” are a thing of the past with seven figure penalties being assessed even against companies that inadvertently contribute to water pollution.

It’s happening because environmental experts agree that the best way to tackle pollution is through something called “polluter pays.”

Basically, this means that whoever causes pollution pays for the clean up, in numerous ways:
• Tanker owners must buy insurance covering the cost of any oil spill cleanup.
• Factories using rivers must have water inlet pipes downstream of their effluent outflow pipes, so if they cause pollution they are the first to suffer.
• Even shoppers pay, being charged for plastic grocery bags – now required in Toronto – to encourage recycling and minimize waste.

Ultimately, polluter pays is designed to deter people from polluting by making it less expensive for them to be green.

Examples Large And Small

There are countless examples of how companies are getting hit hard for causing water contamination.

For instance, while transferring acetone from an aboveground storage tank to a trailer, the employee monitoring the process fell asleep. When the tanker reached capacity, acetone spilled onto the facility’s floor. When the spill was first discovered, it was believed to be minimal and contained.

But several hours later, when a team arrived to complete the cleanup, the acetone was gone. Approximately 1,300 gallons had escaped the containment area because a valve had been left open. The release impacted soil and marshy areas on the property in addition to a nearby swamp. Officials determined the company had responsibility for paying for the problem, resulting in total costs of more than $1-million.

Or take the case of a company that planned to buy and develop a city-owned site, including a state-of-the-art facility that would create more than 100 jobs. Formerly a so-called “Brownfield” property, the site was designated "clean" by regulators.

After lengthy negotiations, the company and city sealed the deal and construction began. Shortly after breaking ground, a bulldozer uncovered several barrels of chemicals, probably buried long in the past. While removing the barrels, one of them spilled. The chemicals flowed into an unprotected drainage pipe that dumped into a nearby river. A few days later, neighbors called local authorities and complained about unpleasant odors.

An investigation linked the odors to the chemical spill. Ten households alleged bodily injury and property damage and sued the company. A court ordered the company to clean up the river, which cost the company $450,000.

Cheap To Prevent, Costly To Fix

While it’s easy to dismiss these examples as being unlikely to happen in a well-operated organisation, the fact is any industrial, agricultural or municipal facility may unwittingly let pollutants enter the water system. Most of these problems are very costly to repair but they are relatively inexpensive to prevent.

For example, spill kits for oil only and those providing universal application run as low as $115 per kit. Outdoor storage containers cost less than $1,100. Modular workstations that can isolate a facility from where a potential pollution hazard is used cost as little as $127. And starting at $350, spill containment pallets are an easy, cost-effective way to prevent spills from seeping into ground or fresh water sources.

Avoiding costly solutions involving lengthy clean ups is easy, and economically priced products exist that cost countless fewer dollars compared to the cost of becoming involved with large lawsuits, ministry fines and consultants.






Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc. (www.compliancesolutionscanada.com), Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.

E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.