City off the hook for sewage spill

In a surprise announcement in court on Wednesday, the federal government stayed charges against the City of Winnipeg of illegally polluting the Red River during a sewage spill in 2002.

If the city had been convicted, the Fisheries Act charges related to protecting waterways from substances "deleterious to fish and aquatic life" could have resulted in a fine of up to $300,000.

But on Wednesday morning, special prosecutor John Harvie said in court that there was insufficient evidence in the two-week trial to demonstrate criminal neglect on the part of the city.

The Crown said it reasonably and honestly believed the city's actions were proper. Even though the city was wrong, Harvie said, that didn't mean its actions were criminal.

City lawyer Saul Simmonds says the Crown's finding is especially pleasing because it shows the city acted the way it should.

"This was not, again, intentional. It was, instead, as a result of a mistake by some employees at the plant," Simmonds said. "Secondly, at all material times, they thought they were acting diligently, that they were taking all reasonable steps."

The spill in September 2002 caused 427 million cubic metres of raw sewage enough to fill the Pan Am Pool 57 times to spill into the Red River. The problem was caused when a valve at the city's North End Treatment Plant was not properly closed.

Simmonds said a number of changes have been made to the North End Pollution Control Centre to ensure a spill of this nature doesn't happen again.