Court fines FortisAlberta $300K over PCB leak at transformer

FortisAlberta Inc. has been fined $300,000 after a polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) leak from a Hinton transformer the power distribution company didn’t report for seven months.

FortisAlberta reported in May 2016 that one of its transformers had leaked oil, but enforcement officers found the company had discovered the leak in October 2015, according to a news release Thursday from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Testing results showed about 325 litres of oil containing PCBs were released into the environment.

The company pleaded guilty in provincial court to one count of violating PCB regulations and one count of violating the Canadian Environmental Protection Act for releasing PCBs and failing to promptly notify an enforcement officer about the incident.

PCBs are toxic industrial chemical substances that are harmful to aquatic ecosystems, toxic to fish in low concentrations, and could hurt human health in large amounts.

They were widely used for insulating and cooling electrical equipment before being banned in North America in 1977 due environmental concerns, but equipment containing the chemical was allowed to remain in use.

FortisAlberta provides electricity to 553,000 residential, farm and business customers in central and southern Alberta, operating in 200 communities with 1,100 employees.

The company is a subsidiary of Fortis Inc. based in St. John’s, N.L.