Canadian Company Paying $225,000 Fine for Ozone-Depleting Products
Information uncovered by the Intelligence Division sparked an investigation of the import and sale by CRC Canada Co. of aerosol products containing a prohibited ozone-depleting substance: HCFC-225. Charges were brought under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act last February.
Canada's Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change announced that CRC Canada Co., located in Mississauga, Ontario, was sentenced Dec. 5 in the Ontario Court of Justice and ordered to pay $225,000 after pleading guilty to two counts of contravening the Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations, 1998 under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The fine will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund.
Information uncovered by the Intelligence Division sparked an investigation of the import and sale by CRC Canada Co. of aerosol products containing a prohibited ozone-depleting substance: HCFC-225. Charges were brought under the act last February.
In addition to the fine, CRC Canada Co. agreed to pay all costs associated with the removal and destruction of the products seized by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) officers during the investigation. The conviction will result in the company's name being added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.
The federal agency said that after Canada signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Montreal Protocol), committing to control ozone-depleting substances including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCs, halons, and methyl bromide, the Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations, 1998 were established to ensure Canada's international obligations under the Montreal Protocol are met.
The Environmental Damages Funds is administered by ECCC. Created in 1995, it provides a way to direct funds received as a result of fines, court orders, and voluntary payments to projects that will benefit Canada's environment.