(Source: CHEK News) A beleaguered company in Port Coquitlam has been hit with a $150,000 fine by the province for environmental infractions. 

The Ministry of Environment issued Ground X Site Services the maximum penalty on Aug. 26, after its inspections in 2021 and 2023 determined the facility on 750 Kingsway Avenue was introducing waste into the Pitt River without proper authorization.

Both provincial and local governments have been cracking down on Ground X’s operations at the facility over environmental concerns.

The company allows hydrovac trucks to dump construction slurry – a mix of water and waste material left over from excavations – into settling pits at the property.

Inspectors have observed wastewater discharging into a ditching system on the northern edge of the site, as well as directly into the Pitt River to the south.

Samples collected during inspections on Nov. 29, 2021 and Dec. 7, 2023, showed the effluent contained metals, hydrocarbons, bacteria and other contaminants of concern.

Levels of Fecal Coliforms, E. Coli, Arsenic, Chromium, Cobalt, and Lead, Benzo(a)pyrene, Pyrene, and Chloroform exceeded the BC Water Quality Guidelines. These exceedances ranged from 11 percent (Arsenic) to 14,650 percent (Pyrene) over the limit.

Following the December inspection, the ministry slapped the company with a pollution abatement order.

Pitt River is a major tributary of the Fraser River, and both hold a rich diversity of wildlife and fish species, including Pacific salmon species, which have experienced significant declines over the last 125 years, the province said.

Jack Green, director of the Environmental Management Act (EMA), said the effluent being discharged from the facility is “capable of injuring any life form or is capable of damaging the environment.”

While Green said there was insufficient evidence from the two inspection dates to conclude that actual adverse damage was done to the environment, he classified the potential for that damage as “medium.”

In its response to the fine notice in July 2024, Ground X disagreed with the ministry’s description of the facility as a “waste disposal facility,” instead calling it a transfer facility for re-use materials, asserting its activities do not require a waste-discharge permit.

The province, however, stated that effluent is broadly defined under the EMA to include any harmful substance, regardless of whether the waste has any commercial value or useful purpose.

“The disposal of waste is not necessary to meet the definition,” Green said. “Simply collecting, handling, and storing waste soil, solids, and liquids is enough.”

Ground X also claimed the contamination found at the site was due to historical uses, adding the property has no drainage, and an insufficient dike, which leads to flooding on the southern portion of the property.

The company disputes the facility is the source of any contamination into the northern ditch, stating the area’s groundwater management is interconnected, which feeds untreated wastewater from other sources into the river.

Ground X added they have made significant efforts over the years to install barriers, filtration measures and silt fencing to control effluent on the low-lying southern portion of the property.

“I want to be abundantly clear at this point that GroundX is acknowledging significant challenges with the onsite water management,” the company said. “The claim that GroundX is causing pollution and discharging into the Pitt River is grossly exaggerated and frankly without merit.”

The province gave little weight to Ground X’s assertion that historical industry is the source of the contamination at the site, noting that no supporting evidence was provided.

They also note the sampled effluent contains contact water from the piles of solid hydrovac waste, soil, concrete, asphalt, and compost at the facility.

Reports submitted by the company also identified the hydrovac slurry ponds as potential areas of concern regarding contaminants, according to the province.

Ground X also blamed the City of Port Coquitlam for the contamination, stating it has not implemented any erosion and soil control measures on its land bisecting the property.

The city recently sought an injunction against the company, as staff believed contaminants were being introduced into the environment. A total of 672 tickets had been issued, according to the city.

In July 2024, a B.C. Supreme Court judge temporarily barred Ground X from depositing and removing soil and hydrovac waste, altering the land and operating on the site without a business licence.

In July 2024, a B.C. Supreme Court judge temporarily barred Ground X from depositing and removing soil and hydrovac waste, altering the land and operating on the site without a business licence.

Green described Ground X’s contravention as “major,” stating it undermines the “basic integrity of the overarching regulatory regime.”

Warnings from the ministry date back to July, 2021, and the company was repeatedly told that it could not allow waste to be introduced to the environment without authorization.

While some effort was made to prevent these discharges, documented observations from inspectors have led the ministry to believe the contamination was ongoing, Green said.

In determining whether the contraventions were deliberate in nature, Green said the company was at least “willfully blind.”

The company submitted an application for a waste-discharge permit in September, 2021, but failed to provide the requested information for processing, leading to the application being cancelled in April, 2024.

Green said this shows Ground X knew they were operating in the waste industry, were aware of the requirements, but continued their activities regardless.

He said the company saved hundreds of thousands of dollars from the delay, by avoiding annual fees and operating costs, and treating leachate.

Although the aggravating factors led to a fine totalling $323,500, the EMA’s administrative penalties for no-permit infractions are capped at $75,000.