Involved in a highway accident? You still need to report spills to the MOE.

From the Ontario Ministry of the Environment:

FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE SYSTEM, LTD. AND GORDON TRAILER SALES & RENTALS LIMITED FINED $2,000 EACH FOR FAILING TO REPORT SPILLS

THUNDER BAY — On March 5, 2010, Fedex Ground Package System, Ltd. and Gordon Trailer Sales & Rentals Limited pleaded guilty to failing to forthwith report their spills of diesel fuel to the ministry’s Spills Action Centre.

On March 11, 2009, the above corporations owned two of nine trucks that collided in a snowstorm on Highway 17 in Soper Township in the District of Thunder Bay. Fluids from five of the trucks including fuel, motor oil and antifreeze spilled onto the road, shoulders and ditches of Highway 17. Both companies had reportable spills of diesel fuel over 100 litres, however, neither reported their spills to the ministry within 24 hours.

The companies were charged following an investigation by the ministry’s Investigations and Enforcement Branch.

Both companies were fined $2,000 each, plus victim fine surcharges for failing to report their spills, and were given 60 days to pay.

Previously, Dave Toews, another trucking company involved in the collision, was also convicted for an environmental violation and fined $400 on January 22, 2010. The matter for Rema Trucks Inc., a further trucking company involved in the accident, is still before the courts. Remediation of the spilled materials was completed promptly and successfully.