SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. -- A farmer in Prince Edward Island has been fined more than $72,000 for failing to prevent pesticides that were sprayed on his land from running off into a river and killing fish.
The pollution killed thousands of fish in July 2011 and again in July 2012 in Trout River and Barclay Brook in western P.E.I.
Warren Ellis of Mount Royal was sentenced Wednesday in Summerside provincial court after pleading guilty to two violations of the federal Fisheries Act.
Environment Canada says $65,000 of the fine will go towards an environmental damages fund, the Atlantic Salmon Federation and a project used to help salmon stocks recover.
The federal agency says its investigation found Ellis had failed to take reasonable measures to prevent an agricultural pesticide from being released.
The sentence includes a $2,355 fine for committing an offence under the provincial Agricultural Crop Rotation Act.
