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For immediate release
October 22, 2003

SARNIA GOLF AND CURLING CLUB LIMITED FINED $32,500

SARNIA – Sarnia Golf and Curling Club Limited has been fined a total of $32,500, plus a 25-percent victim fine surcharge, after being convicted on two counts relating to the misuse of pesticides.

The Court was told that in December 2001 the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club used a tractor and a power-take-off driven spreader to apply a fertilizer/pesticide mixture to its fairways. The Ministry of the Environment received a complaint from a woman, who had walked along an adjacent roadway with her family, stating that she and her two children were exposed to pesticides that drifted from the golf course. A ministry investigation revealed that the mixture was not being applied according to the instructions on its label; the product had been approved for use on putting greens with small hand propelled rotary spreaders only.

Sarnia Golf and Curling Club Limited was fined $25,000 under section 4(c) of the Pesticides Act (PA) for the discharging a pesticide into the environment that caused harm or material discomfort, greater than would result from the proper application. The company was also fined $7,500 under section 22(2) of Regulation 914 made pursuant to the PA for using a pesticide in an extermination not in accordance with the label for that pesticide.

Justice of the Peace Ronald Trachy handed down his decision on October 10, 2003 in the Ontario Court of Justice in Sarnia.

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Contact:
John Steele
Communications Branch
Ministry of the Environment
(416) 314-6666