Environmental Bureau of Investigation (EBI): Deloro Facts

PRIVATE PROSECUTION FACT SHEET

ACCUSED: The Province of Ontario, represented by the Ministry of Environment
OFFENCE DATES: November 1995 to November 1997
PLACE OF OFFENCE: Deloro, Ontario
OFFENCE: Fisheries Act, Section 35(1) and 36(3)
Ontario Water Resources Act, Section 30(1)
RECEIVING WATER: Moira River and Young's Creek
TYPE OF POLLUTION: Continuous discharges of arsenic and the heavy metals: cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel and zinc. Fish habitat has been severely impacted in both fish-bearing rivers.
CIRCUMSTANCES: The Province of Ontario (MOE) has managed and controlled the site for 18 years. In 1980, the Ontario government exempted itself from an assessment of the site cleanup project under the Environmental Assessment Act, claiming that they had urgent work to do at the site including the containment of surface runoff. Seventeen years and 11 studies later, EBI investigators found highly contaminated surface runoff in plain view, discharging directly into the Moira River. An MOE official said he didn't know it was toxic and that this discharge hadn't been sampled for several years.
Arsenic is listed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act on the priority substances list. Arsenic is acutely and chronically toxic to aquatic life as well as humans.
David Dillenbeck, a biologist with over 20 years experience at MOE investigated the site on behalf of EBI and states that "the discharges from the Deloro site are toxic to aquatic biota". He also found that the fish habitat in both rivers has been severely damaged by the pollution leaving the site.
The Bay of Quinte, into which the Moira River flows, has been designated as an area of concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the U.S. Further, studies have shown that the Moira River is the source of 70% of Arsenic loadings to the Bay and that the Deloro site is the major contributor of this arsenic contamination.
The current Ontario government has laid off more than 30% of staff at MOE, more than 40% of staff at MNR. It has recently announced that MNR will no longer be enforcing the provisions of the Fisheries Act that protect fish habitat. At the same time, the prosecution alleges that this government is destroying fish habitat.
The NAFTA Commission for Environmental Cooperation has labelled Ontario as the third worst polluting jurisdiction in North America (out of sixty-four).
THE INFORMANT: Janet Fletcher is a local environmentalist and a member of EBI's advisory panel

We investigate | We prosecute | You can help | Staff | Index | Email EBI | Links

Home | News | News archive | Log-in

PRIVATE PROSECUTION FACT SHEET
ACCUSED:	The Province of Ontario, represented by the Ministry of Environment
OFFENCE DATES:	November 1995 to November 1997
PLACE OF OFFENCE:	Deloro, Ontario
OFFENCE:	Fisheries Act, Section 35(1) and 36(3) Ontario Water Resources Act, Section 30(1)
RECEIVING WATER:	Moira River and Young's Creek
TYPE OF POLLUTION:	Continuous discharges of arsenic and the heavy metals: cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel and zinc. Fish habitat has been severely impacted in both fish-bearing rivers.
CIRCUMSTANCES:	The Province of Ontario (MOE) has managed and controlled the site for 18 years. In 1980, the Ontario government exempted itself from an assessment of the site cleanup project under the Environmental Assessment Act, claiming that they had urgent work to do at the site including the containment of surface runoff. Seventeen years and 11 studies later, EBI investigators found highly contaminated surface runoff in plain view, discharging directly into the Moira River. An MOE official said he didn't know it was toxic and that this discharge hadn't been sampled for several years. Arsenic is listed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act on the priority substances list. Arsenic is acutely and chronically toxic to aquatic life as well as humans. David Dillenbeck, a biologist with over 20 years experience at MOE investigated the site on behalf of EBI and states that "the discharges from the Deloro site are toxic to aquatic biota". He also found that the fish habitat in both rivers has been severely damaged by the pollution leaving the site. The Bay of Quinte, into which the Moira River flows, has been designated as an area of concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the U.S. Further, studies have shown that the Moira River is the source of 70% of Arsenic loadings to the Bay and that the Deloro site is the major contributor of this arsenic contamination. The current Ontario government has laid off more than 30% of staff at MOE, more than 40% of staff at MNR. It has recently announced that MNR will no longer be enforcing the provisions of the Fisheries Act that protect fish habitat. At the same time, the prosecution alleges that this government is destroying fish habitat. The NAFTA Commission for Environmental Cooperation has labelled Ontario as the third worst polluting jurisdiction in North America (out of sixty-four).
THE INFORMANT:	Janet Fletcher is a local environmentalist and a member of EBI's advisory panel