Chatham, Ont. — James Douglas Diamond, an operations supervisor with Black and McDonald’s London office, was handed $40,000 in fines during a Provincial Offences Court hearing for violations under the Environmental Protection Act in Canada. He was held responsible for an ammonia release that sent three local lifeguards to a Chatham-Kent hospital for observation in June 2010. “The charges are related to a discharge of ammonia gas from an arena that affected people in an adjacent community swimming pool and failure to notify the ministry,” said Kate Jordan of the Ministry of the Environment. Jordan told Green Markets that the release caused adverse effects to people at the nearby pool, with some experiencing irritated eyes and throat, difficulty breathing, headache, queasy stomach, and disorientation. Those impacted were taken to the hospital and treated for exposure to the ammonia. Diamond’s fine was $20,000 for the release of a contaminant that caused, or was likely to have caused, an adverse effect, and an additional $20,000 for failing to notify the Ministry of the discharge. Diamond arrived at William Erickson Arena on June 29, 2010, and began replacing the arena’s condenser unit, located on the roof. When he opened a vent valve on the condenser and began purging ammonia from the condenser, the ammonia drifted over the pool located beside the arena.
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