Algoma Steel has been fined $1.2 million for a 2022 gear oil spill into the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie, after pleading guilty to one count under the Fisheries Act and one under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994.
The sentence was handed down on September 10 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Sault Ste. Marie, Environment and Climate Change Canada said in announcing it. The two counts relate to “the deposit of a deleterious and/or harmful substance in water frequented by fish and in water or an area used by migratory birds.”
The case goes back to a gear oil tank overflow at the company’s Sault Ste. Marie facility between June 8 and 9, 2022, which federal enforcement officers found had released an estimated 1,000 to 1,250 litres of gear oil into the river. Gear oil is a deleterious substance under the Fisheries Act and is harmful to migratory birds under the Migratory Birds Convention Act.
The department says the St. Marys River is home to lake sturgeon, walleye and northern pike and supports a variety of migratory birds. The release does not claim any fish or bird deaths.
The full fine goes to the federal Environmental Damages Fund, which directs money from fines and penalties to projects that repair environmental damage, rather than to general revenue. The company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.
Algoma Steel has not published a statement about the fine on its corporate or investor-relations news pages as of Sunday. TDot News did not seek comment from the company.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada news release, September 11, 2026.
