YELLOWKNIFE — De Beers Canada has been fined $350,000 for a diesel spill at it's former Snap Lake Mine in the Northwest Territories.
The diamond company pleaded guilty in Territorial Court in Yellowknife on Monday to one charge under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act for violating petroleum storage tank regulations.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says an investigation found up to 1,125 litres of diesel had been spilled during a fuel transfer between two aboveground storage tanks at the mine site in December 2017.
Money from the fine will go to the national Environmental Damages Fund, which supports projects that benefit the environment.
De Beers Canada will now be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry as a result of the spill.
The Snap Lake Mine, which ceased production in late 2015, is a fully underground diamond mine located approximately 220 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.
It was De Beers first mining operation outside Africa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2022.
The Canadian Press
