Princeton company slapped with $30,000 pollution fine

A Princeton incinerator tasked with cleaning contaminated soil has been hit with a $30,500 pollution fine.

Envirogreen Technologies Ltd. burns oil from soil and dilutes any heavy metals by mixing clean soil, but air pollution and oil spills landed the company in hot water with the province’s environmental regulator.

It has been operating for almost 30 years and touts itself as the only company of its kind in the province that treats hazardous waste.

An inspection last spring found the facility blew past its allowed pollutant limits hundreds of times for more than a year, emitting carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and methane, according to a Ministry of Environment enforcement report.

Once treated, the soils are used for reclamation work at the nearby Copper Mountain mine, but the ministry said much of the tested soil still had high levels of heavy metals, which can be harmful to wildlife.

Meanwhile, its untreated soils were also found to be leaching oil into the ground.

It’s not clear in the ministry report if Envirogreen’s incinerator or its soils directly impacted the environment in the Princeton area.

The company was given a month to appeal the decision or pay the $30,500 fine.