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Case summary: |
Iffy’s Auto Body Parts & Supplies Ltd. located at 2266 Drew Road, Unit 12, Mississauga, ON, is a supply company that supports the automotive refinishing segment of the Greater Toronto Area. This company supplies not only auto body parts, but automotive refinishing coatings as well. In 2013, a complaint was received by an Enforcement Officer concerning several businesses that were allegedly selling automotive refinishing coatings with high Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) levels. Iffy’s Auto Body Parts & Supplies Ltd. was one of the companies named in this complaint. An onsite inspection was conducted the Enforcement Officer in April 2013. At the time of the inspection, the owner claimed to have no knowledge of the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentration Limits for Automotive Refinishing Products Regulations. A written warning for alleged violations of s.s. 3(2) and s.s. 12(2) of the Regulations was the result from the inspection. The Enforcement Officer received a new complaint about Iffy’s Auto Body Parts & Supplies Ltd. in October 2014, alleging that they were importing high VOC automotive refinishing coatings, and then relabeling them with Low VOC information before sale. A reinspection was conducted on March 19th 2015, by the Enforcement Officer. A large numbers of automotive refinishing coatings with VOC levels in excess of the thresholds established in the Regulations were found to be stored in 2266 Drew Road, Unit 11, Mississauga, Ontario. The Enforcement Officer seized the material in the warehouse. The owner confirmed that he does relabel high VOC products. Invoice purchase documents produced by the owner show the importation of many automotive refinishing products above the permitted limits of VOC concentration from a company located in the United States of America.
On May 12th, 2015, Environment Canada’s lab located at River Road, Ottawa, provided the preliminary findings of the Analysis for the Automotive Refinishing Products sampled. On June 8th, 2015, the Enforcement Officer received the final lab analysis report for the sampled products. The products which were tested in their final application form were found to be non-compliant with the Regulations. These results confirmed that the VOC content listed on the labels by the US company reflect the actual content of VOC. Charges were laid against Iffy’s Auto Body Parts & Supplies Ltd. on June 12th, 2015. One count for the import of high VOC content automotive refinishing coatings, and one count for the sale of those products. The second count for the sale of high VOC content automotive refinishing coatings was subsequently withdrawn as part of the plea agreement.
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Charges: |
That Iffy’s Auto Body Parts & Supplies Ltd., between the 1st day of January, 2014, and the 11th day of April, 2015, in the City of Mississauga, in the Province of Ontario did import automotive refinishing products set out in column 1 of the schedule containing a VOC concentration that exceeds the limit set out in column 2 of the schedule for that product, in violation of subsection 3.(1) of the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentration Limits for Automotive Refinishing Products Regulations, and thereby did commit an offence under 272.(1)(h) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. |
