Potato-washing facility to pay $1,000 fine over 'regretted' waste water spill

The owners of a potato facility in New Annan confirm they will not dispute a $1,000 fine theyreceived following a spill of waste water at the end of 2020.

"There's certainly no disputing it. It happened on my watch and it's regretted,"P.E.I. Potato Solutions owner Austin Roberts told CBC News.

The spill from waste water lagoons at the operation was discovered on Dec. 26.

Grey wastewater ended up flowing into the headwaters of the Barbara Weit River. There were no reports of fish dying.

Roberts saidthe lagoons overflowed after some rain.

The potato-washing facility had shut down for a few days over Christmas, so not many staff were around at the time the problem occurred.

"The company was issued a warning under Section 21 of theEnvironmental Protection Act, failing to notify the department of discharge of a contaminant," saida statement fromthe Department of Environment, Water and Climate Change.

It happened on my watch and it's regretted. Austin Roberts

"They were also charged under Section 20(a) of theEnvironmental Protection Act, discharging or causing or permitting a contaminant to be discharged. Tickets were issued Jan. 18, 2021. The fine is $1,000."

Roberts said the business is close to transferring operations into a new building with a new process that "will eliminate the lagoons altogether, so there's no threat of that ever again."

That $4-million facility, which should be up and running by mid-March, will let managers recycle all the waste water produced during its operation.

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