Groups Ask for Environmental Investigation
of Blasting Incident
August 23, 2004

Two environmental organizations are asking the Investigation and Enforcement branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to probe the blasting accident on August 4 that resulted in damages to residential properties near the Red Hill Valley.

The incident caused several thousand dollars damage and led to a suspension of blasting work associated with the construction of the Red Hill Creek Expressway. It is already being investigated by the Ministry of Labour because of the potential danger to employees of the contractors working on the site.

However, the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and Environment Hamilton believe the incident may have also broken provincial environmental laws. They suggest it violated section 13(1) of the Environmental Protection Act which says that " no person shall discharge a contaminant or cause or permit the discharge of a contaminant into the natural environment that causes or is likely to cause an adverse effect."

In their letter to the Ministry, the groups point out that "adverse effect" includes endangering human safety and note several convictions have been registered "for flyrock that impairs a person's safety or damages property".

The August 4 blasting sent football sized rocks into a neighbourhood east of Mount Albion Road. Information on the accident did not leak out to the media until August 9.

Environmental lawyer Mark Mattson, President of the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, says the flying rocks jeopardized public safety and therefore are grounds for an investigation. "It is exactly the same as carelessly rear-ending another car on the highway. Even if there are no injuries, the police will investigate the accident and charge the careless driver," says Mattson. 

The groups also point to the "recent disregard shown by the City of Hamilton for protecting and minimizing environmental damage to the Red Hill Valley" and suggest that this history "places an onus" on the Ministry "to investigate environmental complaints quickly and diligently".

Hamilton was charged in 1999 with knowingly allowing PCBs and other chemical contaminants to leak into Red Hill Creek. Its guilty plea in 2000 resulted in a $450,000 fine - the largest environmental penalty ever imposed on a Canadian municipality.

The letter of the two groups to the Ministry of the Environment can be viewed at http://www.waterkeeper.ca/lok/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=6969.