De Beers Canada has been hit with a $350,000 fine following a diesel spill in the Northwest
Territories.
The diamond mining company pleaded guilty in Yellowknife court to one charge under Canada’s
Environmental Protection Act for violating petroleum storage tank regulations.
Environment Canada said an investigation found up to 1,125 litres of diesel had been spilled
during a fuel transfer between two storage tanks at the company’s former Snap Lake mine site
in December 2017.
In addition to the financial penalty, De Beers Canada has been added to the Environmental
Offenders Registry because of the diesel fuel spill.
Money from the fine will go towards the Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund, which
supports projects that benefit the Canadian environment, said the court.
The Snap Lake Mine, which stopped operating in 2015, was an underground diamond mine
located 220 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. It was De Beers first mine site outside its home
country of Africa.
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