Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change Media Release
Dryden – Russell Wesley pleaded guilty to five offences and was fined $25,000 plus three jail sentences of five days to be served concurrently, for failing to comply with a court order, failing to maintain proper records and failing to maintain the system in a fit state of repair, contrary to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Russell Wesley was the co-owner of a trailer park located on Richan Road in the District of Kenora.
The trailer park is served by a well supply (the system) which obtains water from a well and uses chlorine to treat the drinking water before it is distributed to private residences. Mr. Wesley was the owner of the system.
On September 4, 2014, Mr. Wesley was convicted of seven counts under the SDWA. In addition to imposing a fine, the court issued a court order.
Under the order, Mr. Wesley was required to provide written documentation to the ministry that at least one person applied for a certificate to operate the system by December 19, 2014. Mr. Wesley did not provide the required written documentation to the ministry.
The order required Mr. Wesley to ensure that a professional engineer prepare an Engineer Evaluation Report and to provide the report to the ministry by November 20, 2014. Mr. Wesley did not provide this to the ministry.
The order also required that the system be operated by persons having the required training or expertise. The system was not operated by a certified operator and chlorine testing was not completed by a certified person.
On July 8, 2015, the ministry seized logs from the system’s pumphouse. These logs show that Mr. Wesley failed to ensure that a record was made of the location were the required samples were taken and the name of the person who took the samples, as required by the SDWA.
As the owner of the system, Mr. Wesley was responsible for the operation of the system and for ensuring the system is maintained in a fit state of repair. On September 1, 2015, ministry staff attended the system and observed that the chlorine tank was empty while the water system was in operation. No treatment was being provided to the water in the drinking water system.
The matter was referred to the Ministry’s Investigations and Enforcement Branch and following an investigation charges were laid.
On December 1, 2016, Russell Wesley was convicted of five offences, was fined $25,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $6,250 with 12 months to pay the fine and three jail sentences of five days, to be served concurrently.
