The Canadian Government said on Thursday it had laid 200 charges against steelmaker ArcelorMittal's Canada unit for violating the country's Fisheries Act.
The charges stem from several investigations launched by the Canadian environment ministry's enforcement officers.
The concerned subsection of the law prohibits depositing or permitting "the deposit of a deleterious substance in water frequented by fish or in any place where the deleterious substance may enter any such water," the government said.
ArcelorMittal Canada is a partner of ArcelorMittal Mining Canada for the operation of the Mont-Wright mining complex, as well as the Fire Lake mine in the Fermont region. Both mines are subject to the Fisheries Act as well as to the provisions of the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations.
A deleterious substance is any substance, including zinc, nickel, suspended solids, and acutely lethal effluents, which, if added to water, can degrade or alter water quality to the point of harming fish.
The waters where the deposits took place are tributaries of the Moisie River, which is a provincially planned aquatic reserve. It is also one of the biggest Atlantic salmon rivers in North America.
The Fisheries Act allows for two types of charges - those by summary conviction and those by indictment. The charges against the company were laid by indictment.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese)