The City of Ottawa has been officially blamed for a 1.2-billion-litre sewage spill into the Ottawa River the summer of 2006, but the Crown has agreed there is "no direct evidence" that water quality was impaired.

The city was convicted in court Friday of two charges under the Ontario Water Resources Act:

  • Causing or permitting the discharge of sewage into the river that could "impair the quality of the water."
  • Failing to notify the Ministry of the Environment of the spill when it was discovered on Aug. 15, 2006.

The city pleaded guilty in September to the charges, which related to water contamination between Aug. 4 and Aug. 15, 2006, caused by a sewage gate that was jammed open after a storm.

On Friday in court, a statement of facts agreed upon by both the Crown and the City of Ottawa acknowledged that Petrie Island Beach, downstream from the gate, was closed due to high bacterial counts during the spill and at other times during the summer. It also said that the spill may have impaired the quality of the water.

However, it stated that there was "no direct evidence" that as a result of the spill:

  • Water quality was impaired.
  • Fish or animal habitat was adversely affected.
  • Public health was adversely affected.

The city is expected to be sentenced on Oct. 10.

The official fine is $25,000 to $6 million for each day or partial day of the spill for each of the offences. That would make the fine $300,000 to $72 million for the first offence and $25,000 to $6 million for the second offence, for a total of $325,000 to $78 million.

However, the Ministry of the Environment has said that the maximum fine ever levied for a similar spill was $1.7 million.

Meredith Brown, who heads the environmental group Ottawa Riverkeeper, said she was disappointed the statement of facts didn't mention potential health impacts. She cited a case publicized in the media in which a man's toe became severely infected after he rinsed a cut in the water at Petrie Island, putting him on crutches for a month.

"It had huge health impacts for him and consequences."