2004 Environmental Compliance Reports

The links to the 2004 summaries are in the table below. Information is organized by the five ministry regional offices and by the types of discharges, which are:

• air discharge non-compliance events.
• municipal sewage treatment discharges that exceed legal requirements or the ministry’s policy for sewage treatment.
• industrial sewage discharge non-compliance events.

2004 Environmental Compliance Summaries Region Air Emissions Municipal Sewage Discharges Industrial Sewage Discharges Excel PDF Excel PDF Excel PDF Central Eastern Northern South Western West Central All Regions

Summaries and Trends

2004 Wastewater Limit Exceedances

For each sector, the number of facilities with exceedances is given in brackets beside the sector name. The three facilities with the highest number of exceedances for 2004 are part of the Miscellaneous and Municipal Sewage sectors.

Wastewater Limit Exceedances for 2004

The total number of wastewater limit exceedances recorded has decreased over the past four years.

Air Limit Exceedances by Sector for 2004

The four facilities with the highest number of exceedances for 2004 are part of the Pulp and Paper and Miscellaneous sectors. To improve the ability to compare facility performance, opacity counts for 2004 indicate the number of days on which exceedances occurred. Thus, comparison for this parameter from previous years is not possible.

Air Limit Exceedances by Number of Facilities and Contaminant Type for 2004

Air limit exceedances tend to involve a small number of facilities that may have numerous non-compliant discharges.  Some facilities exceeded the limit for more than one type of contaminant. 

Environmental Officers use a risk-based approach to determine the appropriate response to any identified non-compliance, based on the extent to which it represents actual or potential human health impacts or environmental impairment, and other factors such as the compliance history of the facility.

Possible responses range along a spectrum of approaches, from compliance-assistance and education/outreach through abatement plans, issuing orders, up to and including issuing tickets and undertaking investigations that could result in a prosecution.

Interpretations of Trends and Summaries

Some facts to keep in mind when reading the trends and summaries:

• Exceedance counts can have different meanings, e.g. a limit may be based on 30 minute or annual average, an air dispersion model exceedance is counted once.
• An order issued by the ministry or a ministry investigation are likely in response to a number of exceedances.