Canada’s environmental regulator has charged Luxembourg-headquartered steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal with violations of the nation’s Fisheries Act for dumping a “deleterious substance” in several waterways.
One of the largest steel manufacturers in the world, ArcelorMittal conducts operations in several countries, including Canada through its ArcelorMittal Canada division.
On 30 April, Environment and Climate Change Canada Enforcement laid 200 charges against ArcelorMittal Canada for violating a provision in the Fisheries Act prohibiting companies from depositing deleterious substance in water frequented by fish. The charges center on alleged deposits made by the Mont-Wright mining complex and the Fire Lake mine in the Fermont region of Quebec between 2014 and 2022. Environment and Climate Change Canada launched several investigations into the allegations, which ultimately led the regulator to file 200 charges against the steel manufacturer.
The charges come less than a year after ArcelorMittal was convicted by the Court of Quebec of obstructing Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers. During 2022 inspections of the Mont-Wright mining complex, officers asked the company for documentation verifying compliance with the Fisheries Act as well as the nation’s Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations. The company did not do so, and in September 2022 told the government that it would not be handing over the documents.
“In so doing, the company obstructed Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers in the performance of their duties, thereby contravening section 62 of the Fisheries Act,” Environment and Climate Change Canada said in November.
The court ordered the company to pay a fine of CAD 100,000 (USD 72,441;EUR 64,069) and to provide the requested documents. ArcelorMittal Canada was also added to Canada’s Environmental Offenders Registry.
This isn’t ArcelorMittal’s first run in with Canada’s Fisheries Act.
In 2022, the company and its partner – 7623704 Canada – were fined CAD 15 million (USD 11 miilion; EUR 10 million) by the Court of Quebec after being found guilty of 93 charges for violating the Fisheries Act and Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER). That fine was in response to incidents that occurred from 2011-2013, which were uncovered when officers were investigating a 2012 dike rupture. Officers discovered 33 unauthorized deposits of toxic substances in waters that flow into the Moisie River, one of North America’s most important rivers for Atlantic salmon. It is also a provincially planned aquatic reserve.
“The investigation also revealed that ArcelorMittal Canada Inc. had not declared all the results of its effluent monitoring tests, as required by the MMER,” Environment and Climate Change Canada following the court’s decision. “The firm concealed from the authorities a number of (unauthorized) deposits out of the normal course of events of toxic substances. As a result, ECCC had an inaccurate and altered overview of the situation. ArcelorMittal Canada Inc. was therefore found guilty of having made false and misleading statements to ECCC officers, in violation of subsection 63(1) of the Fisheries Act.”
