WHITEHORSE - The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway has been fined $100,000 for dumping sediment near a lake in 2009 in violation of the Fisheries Act.
The company pleaded guilty in Yukon Territorial Court to one count of depositing a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish.
The unlawful deposit of the sediment near Bennett Lake — which sits on the boundary between B.C. and the Yukon — was witnessed by a Fisheries officer during a routine boat patrol.
The court directed that the fine be used for projects promoting the conservation and protection of fisheries and habitat in the lake and surrounding area.
The sediment affects fish that support First Nations and commercial and recreational fisheries in the area.
White Pass operates a passenger railway service between Carcross, Yukon and Skagway, Alaska, a part of which follows the eastern shoreline of Bennett Lake.
