A Vernon forestry company’s bid to reduce a $75,000 fine, incurred after it caused a landslide in the Shuswap, has been denied.
Tolko will have to pay the full amount after the Forest Appeals Commission found the fine was reasonable, nearly a decade after a logging road Tolko built caused an estimated 11,500 cubic metres of debris to slide into Rosemond Lake, just south of Mara Lake, in 2017, according to a decision published by the Commission July 15.
The road had been constructed in 2011 to facilitate timber harvesting operations. Six years later, a landslide occurred about 40 metres below the road, coinciding with a “significant weather event” that caused flooding and power outages in the region.
In all, an estimated 2.43 hectares of land was disturbed by the slide.
An investigation found that while weather conditions contributed to the slide, the leading cause was Tolko’s design and construction of the logging road, which had insufficient drainage.
Tolko was fined $50,000 and $25,000 for contravening two sections of the Forest and Range Practices Act.
In appealing the fine, Tolko did not deny that its logging road caused the slide. Instead, the company argued the $75,000 in fines imposed in 2022 was excessive and should be reduced.
While Tolko discovered the slide within days of its occurrence and promptly installed culverts along the road to manage any remaining risk, the company did not report the incident to the province. Instead, Ministry of Forests staff observed it from a distance while they happened to be working in the general area, according to the decision.
“It is troubling that despite the apparent existence of internal monitoring and inspection systems, and the involvement of several qualified professionals in assessing the Rosemond Slide and planning remedial works, the Ministry was not notified of the slide,” the Commission’s decision states.
While Tolko was arguing the incident should only result in one contravention of the Act and fining the company twice was an unfair duplication, the province argued the fines were appropriate, saying the gravity and magnitude of the incident underscores the need for general deterrence.
The Commission said Tolko’s “apparent oversights and lack of due diligence” are what gave rise to the landslide, adding the gravity of the contraventions was “significant or high.”
Ultimately, the Commission sided with the province in upholding the fine amounts, while pointing out that Tolko has had “previous contraventions of a similar nature related to road construction and drainage management.”
In addition to the $75,000 fine, Tolko will also have to cover the cost of any timber lost in the landslide, as this was Crown timber. The amount Tolko will owe the province for this timber is to be determined.