Windsor company fined $46,000 for Environmental Protection Act violations

(Source: Ontario Government)

A Windsor industrial finishing company and its director have been fined more than $46,000 after being convicted of Environmental Protection Act violations.

Kinec Electrical Services and Manufacturing Limited was granted ministry approval for “multiple sources of discharges to the atmosphere” back in July 2008, according to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

A condition of the approval required the company to submit a test protocol to the ministry within three months that included pre-test information for source testing.

However, following a ministry inspection in 2011, it said the company did not submit the test protocol as required.

“As a result, a ministry order was issued requiring the company to submit the test protocol by August 2011,” read a court bulletin.

“The company did not comply with the order by the deadline.”

Following an investigation, the company pled guilty to several charges related to non-compliance in June 2014. Part of the sentencing required the company to come into compliance with the ministry order within six months of the conviction.

In November 2020, the ministry did an inspection and said the test protocol still was not submitted to the ministry. More charges were laid related to continued non-compliance.

Klinec Electric Services and Manufacturing Limited has been convicted of two counts of failure to comply with the conditions of a ministry approval by failing to submit information to the ministry as required and one count of failure to comply with the conditions of a ministry order by failing to submit information to the ministry as required by a ministry order.

The company’s director, Pal Kinec, has been convicted of failure to take all reasonable care to prevent the company from contravening a ministry order and failure to take all reasonable care to prevent the company from contravening a court order.

As a result, the company is required to pay a fine of $37,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $9,250. It was given 30 days to pay.

The director is required to pay $5,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $1,250. He was also given 30 days to pay.

The company is required to submit a test protocol for source testing within three months of the conviction, meeting the requirements for the 2008 ministry approval.