Saskatchewan

Claude Resources fined $172,000 for diesel spill

A Saskatchewan gold mining company has been fined $172,000 for a diesel spill at its SeaBee Mine in January 2013. The spill involved 24,000 litres of diesel fuel from a storage tank at the mine site, approximately 125 kilometres northeast of the town of La Ronge.

24,000 litres of diesel fuel spilled out of storage tank into northern Sask. lake

A Saskatchewan gold mining company has been fined $172,000 for a diesel spill at its SeaBee Mine in January 2013.

The spill involved 24,000 litres of diesel fuel from a storage tank at the mine site, approximately 125 kilometres northeast of the town of La Ronge, Sask.

The storage tank was on the north shore of Laonil Lake, 35 metres from the shoreline. The spill affected that shoreline as well as the lake, where a containment boom was used to keep the fuel from spreading further.

Claude Resources pleaded guilty in provincial court to one charge under the federal Fisheries Act and one charge under Saskatchewan's Environmental Management and Protection Act.

Investigators said the tank had been serviced by an uncertified installer which caused the spill. They concluded the release was preventable and charged the company.

Provincial environment officials say the ministry strictly regulates the operation of fuel tanks in Saskatchewan to protect people and the environment.