Engineer fined $5K for falsely reporting tailings dam near Parry Sound, Ont., had been repaired

A gavel is seen in this file photo. (File)

An engineer who filed false reports that said a tailings dam protecting the Magnetawan River had been repaired has been fined $5,000.

Michael Wereszczynsky, who was convicted of one violation under the Environmental Protection Act, must also pay a victim fine surcharge of $1,250 and was given 12 months to pay.

"The conviction is for submitting false or misleading information to the ministry," the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said in a news release Friday.

While Wereszczynsky was convicted in February of this year, the offences took place between Feb. 9, 2018, and May 9, 2018.

The case is related to the Kearney Graphite Mine, which operated from 1988 until 1994, when almost one million tonnes of ore was processed. It was formerly owned by Ontario Graphite Ltd. (OGL).

"In December 2011, OGL submitted a closure plan to the ministry detailing work that was required to rehabilitate the site once it was closed including repairs to the tailings dam," the ministry said.

"Tailings generated from the on-site milling process were deposited in an on-site pond, which was designed to have a capacity of 29 million dry tonnes of tailings accounting for over 34 years of milling operations at the expected milling rate. The Tailings Dam was constructed to prevent contaminated flow from entering a tributary to the Magnetawan River."

The tailings dam was in poor condition by September 2017 and an engineering consulting firm recommended repairs to its embankment be made a priority.

Province ordered repairs

The province ordered repairs in January 2018, directing OGL to have a qualified person submit monthly reports updating repairs to the dam.

"OGL retained Michael Wereszczynsky as a qualified person to complete the work as required," the news release said.

"At the time, Mr. Wereszczynsky was a professional mining engineer who had been formerly employed by OGL."

He submitted monthly reports from February until May 2018 that said repairs to the embankment had been completed.

"Further, the reports indicated that various equipment had been installed and was operational at the site including a continuous pH meter, a pressure transducer, an aerator and a sparger system," the news release said.

"Ministry staff attended the site between March 2018 and May 2018 and discovered that the equipment was either non-operational or had not been installed as stated in the monthly reports."

Not only that, but the embankment had also not actually been repaired. An investigation ensued, leading to the charges under the Environmental Protection Act.

Read the full release here.