Polaris mine owners charged for fuel spill

Teck Cominco Ltd., the company that owns the former Polaris mine, faces three Fisheries Act charges in connection with the discharge of several thousand litres of diesel fuel into fish-inhabited water, court records say.

The charges were laid in relation to spills alleged to have originated in June 2002 from the company’s tank farm on Little Cornwallis Island – two months before the mine closed.

“There are various estimates as to the volume, as high as 10,000 litres,” said John Cliffe, a Vancouver-based lawyer representing the Crown.

“[Teck Cominco] has a different view as to how much was spilled,” he said.

The two sides are scheduled to appear in court in Iqaluit on July 16.

“It’s anticipated there will be a guilty plea [by Teck Cominco] and sentence submissions on that day,” Cliffe said.

Polaris, once the world’s most northern zinc and lead mine, shut its doors in August 2002 after 20 years of operation.