B.C. Ministry of Environment releases offenders list of shame

CENTRAL OKANAGAN – The B.C. Environment Ministry has released its quarterly report detailing recent environmental transgressions by people and companies, and there are two from the Central Okanagan.

Brian Gilmour and Linda Hall of Kelowna in the second quarter of 2017 were ordered under the Water Sustainability Act to restore an “unauthorized excavated hole” on the bank of Okanagan Lake.

Under terms of the order, Hall and Gilmour were required to restore the lakebed and hire a professional to supervise the job.

“The order requires… a qualified professional to oversee and monitor the filling operation to ensure that no impacts occur to the lake, the aquatic ecosystem or other property,” the report notes.

In a second entry, the report says an unidentified person in Lake Country was the target of a stop work order issued by the Agricultural Land Commission.

The person was the target of the order because they failed to get commission approval for a non-farm use, including the construction of agri-tourism accommodations, the report says.

The order required the person to stop construction on any structure related to tourism and a site plan for any future construction.

No reason is given why the person is not identified.

The report released today, March 5, covers the second quarter of 2017 and includes orders issued under various pieces of provincial environmental legislation including the Environmental Management Act, Wildlife Act, Off-Road Vehicle and the Forest and Range Practices Act.

To contact a reporter for this story, email John McDonald or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.