A Kelowna lakeside resort that knowingly polluted for a decade has been charged with polluting.

Lake Okanagan Resort, also known as 1782 Holdings Ltd., made its first appearance in a Kelowna courtroom, Aug. 20, and is facing four charges under the Environmental Management Act.

It’s unclear precisely what the charges relate to but the resort, which was largely destroyed by wildfire in 2023, is facing two charges of failing to comply with a permit and two charges of introducing waste into the environment without a permit.

Court records show the alleged infractions happened on July 21, 2021. The maximum penalty for the quasi-criminal charges is a $1-million fine and a maximum of six months in jail.

Over the years, the resort has been plagued by environmental issues and in 2022 the province levied almost $50,000 in fines for exceeding environmental guidelines.

At the time, an environmental report found that between 2014 and 2020 the resort had exceeded the guidelines 85 times, with 81 of the exceedances being more than 50%. There’s no indication the pollutants entered Okanagan Lake itself.

Two “temporary” sewage treatment plants were due to be replaced in 2016 but sat in the parking lot for years.

“Ministry staff observed the influent tank (a repurposed modified train car) to be extremely rusted, with questionable structural integrity,” a 2023 Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy report read.

The report also stated that Ministry staff observed a second sewage treatment facility to be “inoperable.”

A report said that all the wastewater facilities are in poor working condition.

“Failure to maintain both an operational and a maintenance manual interferes with the Ministry’s ability to protect the environment,” a 2022 report said. “The Ministry has repeatedly found that the water treatment system is not being maintained in good working order and there is potential for impacts to the receiving environment foreshore area, which is a red zone area of concern for shore spawning Kokanee.”

In 2023, the McDougall Creek wildfire destroyed much of Lake Okanagan Resort, leaving condo owners in limbo.

The resort will be back in court next month. None of the allegations have been proven in court.