Vancouver. The Ministry of Environment today launched a new on-line database which will allow members of the public to “make it easier for British Columbians to keep track of the people, businesses and industries running afoul of B.C.'s environmental rules.” But at the same time the Ministry quietly released its enforcement statistics for 2010, revealing that fewer and fewer people are being convicted of offences under those same environmental rules.
“This new data demonstrates that there were fewer convictions under BC’s environmental statutes in 2010 than in more than 20 years.” Said Andrew Gage, staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law. “Environmental rules don’t work if you don’t have staff investigating possible violations and charging polluters.”
2010 saw a mere 32 convictions under environmental statutes, compared with an average of 467 convictions per year during the 1990s and 122 per year during the first decade of 2000.
“When government boasts about the big fines it collects from polluters, those are the result of charges and convictions,” said Gage. “Charging serious offenders is key to deterrence and an important way for government to show that it is serious about environmental protection.”
The number of tickets under the environmental statutes examined was 1211, which gives 2010 the second lowest number of tickets (and overall enforcement action) of any year since prior to 1990. This may be compared with an average of 2558 tickets per year during the 1990s and 1632 tickets per year during the first decade of 2000. Tickets are intended to penalize less serious offenders, with penalties typically in the range of $230-$570 depending on the offence.
The new statistics come after the recent release of an internal Ministry of Environment audit showing widespread non-compliance with BC’s Water Act. The review found apparent non-compliance with the Water Act in 3500 locations on the just 24 lakes examined. There have been 4 convictions under the Water Act in the past 5 years (including 1 in 2010). (There have been 174 tickets issued under the Water Act in those 5 years, but each ticket carries a penalty of only $230.)
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For more information contact:
Andrew Gage, Staff Counsel at 250-412-9784 or 604-601-2506.
For a pdf copy of this news release click here.