Teck will be paying forward $300,000, following a sediment-laden discharge spill at Elkview Operations (EVO) in September of 2012.
Of this, $285,000 will be given to the non-profit Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, as well as a $15,000 penalty as a result of three Environmental Management Act charges related to the incident.
“This was a joint submission to the court, agreed to by Crown and Teck, and the timing was related to ongoing discussions to achieve an agreed upon joint submission,” said Manager of Community and Aboriginal Affairs for Teck Ltd., Nic Milligan.
In August and September of 2012, EVO was performing maintenance work on the Goddard sedimentation pond, without notifying the regulator of the changes to work in accordance with its permits.
On September 11 and 19, sediment-laden water was discharged which flowed into the Elk River. According to a press release by Teck, the September 19 discharge was not reported immediately to regulators as is required.
Teck said there was no human health risk associated with the discharges, and no indication of long-term impacts to wildlife or the environment.
Following the incidents, EVO implemented improved incident identification and reporting procedures, and enhanced training for employees and contractors.
“We are committed to learning from these incidents and continually work to further strengthen our environmental performance,” said Milligan. “These occurrences were thoroughly investigated at the time they occurred and measures were implemented to prevent a reoccurrence.”
