CANADA (From news reports) -- Domtar Inc. has been penalized $17,200 for nearly two dozen failures to control the release of emissions from its Skookumchuck, B.C., mill.

The kraft pulp mill was found to have violated pollution levels 23 times over eight months starting in 2021, according to a decision from director of the Environmental Management Act Bryan Vroom.

On at least six occasions, the decision found Domtar failed to keep smoke emissions from a wood-waste-fired power boiler below the 40 per cent opacity required under its 2013 permit.

The opacity requirement is used as a proxy for how much smoke and dust are coming out of a smokestack, and therefore, how it could have a real or potential impact on the health of workers and the surrounding community.

Built in 1968, the mill employs around 280 workers and produces 280,000 tonnes of bleached Kraft wood pulp every year. Paper Excellence -- renamed Domtar in 2024 -- bought the mill in 2013.

Inspectors under the Ministry of Environment and Parks initially deemed the violations were of a "medium" severity, and on March 19, 2024, recommended three penalties against Domtar adding up to $39,000.

They pointed to high levels of particulate matter, sulphur compounds, sulphur dioxide, chlorine dioxide and nitrogen oxides -- all emissions that can be released from the mill's boilers, a kiln and bleach plant.

Decision reduces penalty

In submissions, the company disputed the findings, arguing that a nearby air quality impact assessment showed the impacts to human health were "not significant" and that the ministry failed to show the violations would impact workers.

"On that basis, the proposed base penalty is too high and should be reduced (if not eliminated altogether)," the Domtar submission stated.

In his decision, Vroom responded by reducing the severity of the failures to a level of "low to none."

The director had discretion to issue separate $40,000 penalties for 23 failures to comply with regulations, but decided to consolidate the infractions into one penalty with a $40,000 maximum.

Vroom dropped the base penalty amount a combined $3,500 for the company's efforts to correct and prevent repeats of the contraventions.

He also considered that the mill had been assessed eight previous administrative penalties in the past five years for failures to keep and monitor pollution levels within regulatory limits.

The previous penalties, wrote Vroom, "should have been enough to deter continued non-compliance."

The director increased the base penalty due to past non-compliance and for the repeated or continuous nature of the failures. Vroom also adjusted the penalty after he determined the company had derived an economic benefit for avoiding environmental compliance.

As a result, Domtar was issued two penalties adding up to $17,200, instead of the $39,000 recommended by ministry inspectors.

Company faces further scrutiny following corporate realignment

Domtar -- which had gone by Paper Excellence until last year -- has spent billions of dollars in recent years acquiring dozens of mills across Canada and the U.S. Today, it manages roughly 22 million hectares of forest and has quickly become the largest privately held forestry company in Canada.

In November 2024, a Domtar spokesperson confirmed company owner Jackson Wijaya would consolidate control over Asia Pulp & Paper (APP). The move came after a months-long investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists into a sprawling network of ties linking the companies.

At the time, then-Paper Excellence denied the two companies were connected. The corporate realignment has since prompted a review of the companies' corporate relationship and whether the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) dissociation with APP in 2007 over allegations of widespread deforestation should be extended to Domtar.

Such a move by the FSC -- a global sustainable forestry certification body -- could impact Domtar's market share, especially with customers and in markets where sustainable wood products are valued.

The company's meteoric rise has at times been plagued by controversy, including for how it operates its pulp and paper mills.

In 2016, the Canadian government handed a $225,000 penalty to the company's Northern Pulp mill for leaking more than 47 million litres of pulp and paper effluence into Pictou Harbour, N.S. Two years later, federal authorities fined its mill in Mackenzie, B.C., $900,000 for leaking effluence into a lake. Both mills were added to Canada's environmental offenders registry.

And in January 2024, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paper Excellence was told to pay $25,500 in penalties for dumping highly toxic waste into the ocean from its Crofton pulp and paper mill on Vancouver Island.

Charles Latimer, who heads strategic innovation at Greenpeace Canada, said the latest penalties against Domtar are worrying, especially after the company just released its sustainability strategy.

"It is distressing to see a company like Domtar facing fines for multiple violations," said Latimer, adding, "this is a reminder that a corporation's actions speak louder than words."

A spokesperson for Domtar acknowledged the penalties in an email, and said it is working with B.C.'s environment ministry in response.

"The mill has taken steps to address the deficiencies that led to the penalties and works to continually improve administrative and operational processes," the company said in a statement.

"We take these matters seriously, and we are committed to managing our operations in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and other requirements."

The company has 30 days to submit an appeal.