On December 15, 2023, Canadian Kraft Paper Industries Limited was ordered to pay a $1 million fine after pleading guilty at the Provincial Court of Manitoba to one charge under the federal Fisheries Act, one of the largest environmental fines in Manitoba history. The charges stemmed from a February 2019 pipe leak at Canadian Kraft Paper Industries Limited’s pulp and paper mill in The Pas, Manitoba. The leak resulted in the release of 23,000 litres of black liquor, a by-product of the manufacturing process, into Canadian Kraft Paper Industries Limited’s mill effluent treatment system. Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers responded and collected samples. Through a subsequent investigation, they determined that over the course of six days, close to 181 million litres of acutely lethal effluent had been released from the effluent treatment system into the Saskatchewan River.
