Accessibility and Access Keys [0]
Ottawa heavy-construction company Taggart Construction was fined $5,000 in court Thursday after pleading guilty to one charge of failing to comply with a provincial water-use order.
Six other charges against the company were dropped as part of a plea bargain.
According to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, provincial officials ordered Taggart in October 2007 to report monthly how much water it was using as part of a construction project at Findlay Creek.
In a report the company filed for January 2007, it claimed to have used no water, but a federal fisheries inspector who visited the site during that month saw water being used and reported his findings to the government.
Taggart, which subsequently filed a correct report, was prosecuted for the infraction.
Findlay Creek, marketed by its developers as “Ottawa’s Family-Friendly New Home Community” is on the southeastern outskirts of the city and in an area of significant natural wetlands.
According to the ministry, Taggart has two other convictions for water-related offences — one for taking water before it had a permit, and the other a minor ticketing offence.