Nexen Energy, the Canadian subsidiary of a Chinese state-run oil corporation, has pleaded guilty to damaging the habitat of a lake in northeastern B.C. by taking water for a nearby fracking operation, which violated its water licence.
The Calgary-based company, owned by the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corp., has agreed to pay $75,000 in fines, all but $1,000 of which will go to a Victoria-based environmental conservation charity, a clerk at the Fort Nelson Provincial Court said.
Lana Lowe, director of the Fort Nelson First Nation’s Lands and Resources Department, said she was disappointed with the amount the company was fined, which she called a “slap on the wrist.” She said neither Nexen nor the government had “an understanding of the hydrology of the area” and added that “there’s still no baseline data collection” on the health of the region’s watersheds.
MIKE HAGER – Globe and Mail – Nov. 26, 2015.
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