Cooling firm fined for R22 release

CANADA: A company providing district cooling to locations in Windsor, Ontario, has been fined a total of CAD100,000 (€70,000) for releasing R22 to atmosphere.

BPC District Energy General Partner Inc, which operates a heating and cooling facility on Riverside Drive in Windsor, pleaded guilty last week to one charge of discharging or permitting the discharge of R22 refrigerant, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act. It was convicted of one offence under the EPA for a discharge of R22 refrigerant on or about May 16, 2013 and was fined CAD80,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of CAD20,000.

At the Riverside Drive facility, BPC uses refrigeration equipment to provide cooling services to the Windsor Utilities Commission, which distributes water for use in air conditioning systems at various locations in downtown Windsor, including Casino Windsor, Windsor Justice Facility, City Hall and the Art Gallery.

On October 1, 2012, BPC notified the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change that between December 2011 and June 2012, its Riverside Drive facility had lost 2,385kg of refrigerant due to system leaks. As a result of the loss, the company added 454kg of refrigerant to its system in July 2012, and 1,362kg of refrigerant in August 2012.

On May 16, 2013, the company reported another release of 812kg of refrigerant – the result of leaks occurring between August 2012 and May 2013. As a result of the refrigerant loss, BPC added a further 907kg of refrigerant to their system in June 2013.

The company has been given 90 days to pay the fine.