Brookfield Gardens Inc. has been charged by the Department of Environment, Labour and Justice’s Public Safety Division with three counts under the Environmental Protection Act, Watercourse and Wetland Protection Regulations.

Charges arose from the investigation of a reported fish kill on the North River on August 9, 2014. The charges are the result of the cultivation of an agricultural crop in the North Milton area.

Charges are as follows:

• subsection 3(4)(g) – the cultivation of an agricultural crop within 15 meters of a watercourse boundary or wetland boundary;

• subsection 3(3) – without a license or Buffer Zone Activity Permit alter or disturb the ground or soil within 15 meters of a watercourse boundary or wetland boundary;

• subsection 8(2) – cultivate one or more hectares of row crop on any parcel of land which has a slope which is greater than nine per cent unless there is a management plan for that area and the cultivation of the row crop is done, pursuant to, and in accordance with, that management plan.

Brookfield Gardens Inc. is to appear in Provincial Court in Charlottetown on November 24, 2014.