The Ontario Court Justice has ordered Canadian National (CN) Railway to pay an $8 million fine after the company pleaded guilty to causing two derailments in Northern Ontario in 2015 that spilled more than three million litres of crude oil.
The first derailment happened on Feb. 14, 2015 near Gladwick, a remote area outside Gogama, and the second happened on March 7, 2015, in Gogama, around 45 kilometres to the south.
In the first derailment, around 1.06 million litres of crude oil was released into the environment. Some oil entered a creek that flows into Upper Kasasway Lake.
In the second derailment, around 2.6 million litres of crude oil spilled into the environment, including wetlands and the Makami River that flows into Minisinakwa Lake.
Both derailments happened after a piece of railway track broke from the weight of a passing train.
An investigation determined that CN failed to exercise due diligence in maintaining its tracks.
The company has since restored the track infrastructure in that part of northeastern Ontario.
The money from the fine goes into a special fund that is set aside for restorative environmental projects.
As a result of the conviction CN has been added to the Environmental Offenders Registry. The registry contains information on convictions of corporations registered for offences committed under certain federal environmental laws.