The Town of Trenton, N.S., will have to pay a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty to discharging raw sewage into Lowden Brook for seven months.
According to a Friday news release from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Town of Trenton, located in Pictou County, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Fisheries Act.
Along with the fine, the town will have to complete training on the Fisheries Act, perform routine sampling, publish information about the incident on the town’s website, and offer proper effluent sampling protocols training to the town’s employees and contractors. These conditions must be met within 18 months.
The release says an investigation determined raw sewage was discharged into Lowden Brook — a tributary to the East River that supports Atlantic salmon, speckled trout, and brown trout populations — between June 1, 2019 and Jan. 4, 2020.
Enforcement officers received a complaint of a strong sewage smell around the brook on Nov. 13, 2019. Officers found an outfall connected to the town’s infrastructure that was releasing raw sewage into the body of water.
According to the release, lab results on samples collected from the brook showed high levels of E. coli and the outfall.
Due to the conviction, the Town of Trenton has been added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.
