ASPHALTopcs | Summer 2017 | VOL 30 | NO 2

ENVIRONMENTAL
ESSENTIALS
by Christina Wright
Don’t do it!
Whenever I am asked, this is my immediate response:
DON’T DO IT! It has a high potential for large individual
and corporate fines and is a serious offence under
multiple regulations and jurisdictions. In the vast majority
of cases, the individual or company has absolutely no
idea of the risk of this action, which applies in both rural
and urban areas.
What am I talking about? Simply filling in or altering onsite
natural or naturalized water bodies, such as creeks
and streams, ponds and ditches, even when water is not
there all the time. Alterations include, but are not limited
to, diversion, widening, dredging, and damming.
The key legislation that applies to this action is the
Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA), enforced by the
province, and the Fisheries Act, enforced by the federal
government. However, many other jurisdictions may
be involved such as Environment and Climate Change
Canada, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry,
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and
local conservation authorities.
The two factors that make this a very high risk action
are low burden of proof and high fines.
Unlike the Environmental Protection Act, which requires a
“likely” burden of proof for an adverse effect, the OWRA
and Fisheries Act only require that an action may cause
an impairment for a conviction. Altering a naturalized
ditch or a natural creek may constitute impairment if
the action interferes with any living organism that lives
in or comes into contact with the water or soil around the
water, changes the water colouring, causes suspended
sediment in the water, and so on. Filling in a naturalized
ditch or a natural creak would be permanent destruction
of the water body. It is important to note that, even if
these actions may not cause an on-site impairment, they
may cause impairment downstream, such as alteration to
an off-site fish habitat or your neighbour’s water supply.
Unlike the EPA, which only has a maximum penalty, the
Fisheries Act has both a minimum and maximum penalty.
For a first offence, fines under the Fisheries Act can
range from $15,000 to $1 million for individuals and
from $75,000 to $4 million for corporations.
If (even after reading this article) you still need to fill
in a natural water body and/or naturalized ditch, GET
PERMISSION FIRST! This can be a complicated, time
consuming and expensive process involving multiple
(municipal, provincial and federal) agencies. Hiring
professionals to assist you is a must!
Christina Wright is Environmental Compliance
Specialist at BCX Environmental Consulting, a Canadian
environmental engineering company specializing in
providing expert environmental consulting services.
SUMMER 2017 37