Sediment Discharge Events Resulting in Convictions Under Section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act

The federal Fisheries Act, which is administered by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), has provisions that prohibit the deposition of deleterious substances into waters used by fish. Although all construction activities in Canada must be constructed and operated in compliance with the Fisheries Act, there have been numerous sediment discharges to water that have resulted in convictions under Section 36(3) of the Fisheries Act since the 1970’s. In 2001 DFO published a brief summary of all sediment-related convictions under Section 36(3) in their Habitat Enforcement Bulletin. This presentation will briefly summarize the cases in that summary that were relevant to linear developments as well as discuss similar sediment discharge convictions in Canada since 2001.