A Kingsville-based greenhouse operator, has been convicted in Windsor court for operating sewage works without the required provincial approval.
The conviction stems from offences committed between January 8, 2021, and May 9, 2023. On April 4, 2025, the company was fined $27,000 and ordered to pay an additional $6,750 victim fine surcharge. The farm has six months to pay the penalty.
The company owns and operates three greenhouse complexes on adjacent properties in Kingsville, Ontario. In October 2022, ministry inspectors visited the site and found each complex was using a stormwater management pond. The ponds appeared to be discharging into the Fulmer Drain, part of the Lake Erie watershed.
Under Ontario law, stormwater management ponds require an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) before operation. While the company obtained an approval in 2011 for one pond through an engineering consultant, approvals for the other two were never secured. The company later stated it believed its consultant was handling the applications.
Despite lacking approvals, the farm conducted water quality testing, which showed no environmental harm from the discharges. In November 2022, the company formally applied for the missing ECAs. The company did not discharge stormwater from the two ponds until the approvals were granted in 2023.
Following an investigation by the ministry's Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch, charges were laid, leading to the April 2025 conviction.
Source: Ontario Newsroom
