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New Gold fined $150,000 under Environmental Protection Act

Fines handed down after higher than acceptable levels of un-ionized ammonia were found in discharge at the Rainy River Project site.
New Gold Rainy River project
New Gold's Rainy River gold project. (File).

A mining company is facing a hefty fine after failing to comply with conditions handed down by Environmental Compliance Approval for the construction of its Rainy River Project.

New Gold Inc. is facing a $150,000 fine, plus an additional $37,500 victim surcharge fee under the Environmental Protection Act after it was found the company was discharging higher than acceptable levels of un-ionized ammonia at its Rainy River Project, a gold mine that was under construction in 2015 near Rainy River, Ont.

The offences took place between July 26 and Aug. 2, 2016. The ECA sampled discharge from two in-pit sumps and found the levels of un-ionized ammonia exceeded the daily maximum discharge limit. The first sample was found to exceed the limit on July 26, but New Gold continued to discharge the sump until July 29, releasing 19 million liters.

A second sample was found to exceed acceptable maximum discharge levels and on July 26 New Gold received a report from an independent lab on the findings, but failed to notify the Ministry of the Environment until eight days later.

New Gold has three months to pay the fines.