Convicted – Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation

Court Location – London

Description of Offence – The conviction relates to permitting the discharge of a material, in any waters or on any shore or bank or in any place that may impair the quality of any waters, contrary to Sec.30 (1) of the Ontario Water Resources Act.

Date of Offence – Beginning on or about April 16, 2016 and ending on or about June 7, 2017

Date of Conviction – February 17, 2021

Penalty Imposed – Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation was convicted of one violation under the Ontario Water Resources Act and was fined $100,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $25,000 and was given one year to pay.

Background –

• Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation operates a metal recycling facility on River Road in London where scrap vehicles are processed for their metal content.
• Along the southern border of the Gerdau site is a municipal property easement, and then south of the easement is a wooded area. Further south of the wooded area is a City of London owned/operated golf course. In the vicinity of these locations is a pond on the golf course property and two watercourses that converge and ultimately outfall into the Thames River.
• On June 7, 2017, the Ministry received a report from the City of London indicating that oil was present in a creek leading into the golf course pond. Ministry inspectors subsequently responded and confirmed the presence of oil and determined that the Gerdau site was the source of this oil.
• Gerdau promptly responded to the discharge, reported the spill to the Ministry’s Spills Action Centre and fully cooperated during the investigation.
• As part of the Ministry's investigation, surface water and/or soil samples were collected within the easement area, the wooded area and from the waters. Laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of metals and substances associated with oil, namely: petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
• It was later determined that the discharge from the Gerdau site occurred due in part to an unusually heavy rainfall. This rainfall event was not unexpected or unforeseeable.
• Since the discharge, Gerdau has undertaken numerous actions to prevent similar occurrences in the future including developing staff re-training around spills prevention, and developing a storm water management system.
• The ministry’s Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch investigated and laid charges which resulted in one conviction.