Ontario towing company diesel spill conviction has been confirmed following a Highway 401 incident in Durham Region that occurred four years ago.
A Whitby-based towing company owner has been convicted under Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act and fined $5,000 after failing to properly clean up a diesel fuel spill on Highway 401 in Clarington.
The conviction stems from a January 4, 2022 incident when Jegatheeswaran Ramanathan, director of GTA AAA Towing, reported a diesel spill to the Ministry of the Environment’s Spills Action Centre. The spill occurred after a transport truck carrying oranges left the roadway and entered a ditch on the westbound lanes of Highway 401.
Ramanathan initially estimated that approximately 50 litres of diesel fuel had leaked from the truck’s fuel tank and advised the ministry that cleanup efforts were underway. He later claimed a vacuum truck had removed the spilled diesel and that the site had been fully remediated.
However, a third-party remediation report completed on August 12 revealed that a significant amount of contaminated soil remained. Investigators determined that roughly 27 tonnes of soil had been impacted by the diesel spill and had not been properly removed.
Following an investigation by the ministry’s Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch, charges were laid, leading to the Ontario towing company diesel spill conviction.
