A Loring-area man has been fined a total of $3,992 for multiple offences of unauthorized work he caused to be completed in East Mills Township near the town of Arnstein.
Hartley Moore pleaded guilty to unlawfully filling and dredging shore lands without a work permit or public lands instrument, contrary to the Public Lands Act, and to operating an unlicensed aggregate pit, contrary to the Aggregate Resources Act. In addition, he received court orders to repair the shore lands and to rehabilitate the pit lands.
Court heard that on September 17, 2013, a complaint was received regarding work that had been done along Julius Lake in the late summer of 2013.
Upon investigating, ministry technicians and a conservation officer determined that Moore had been paying a heavy-equipment operator to fill the Crown shore lands of Julius Lake and dredge a channel from an adjacent swamp that emptied into the lake.
No environmental protective devices had been installed and Moore had neither applied for nor been issued a permit to conduct the work. The investigation also found that Moore had been removing material from an old pit face to facilitate the shore lands work. The material being extracted was being used to build a road through a swamp.
No licence had been acquired to operate the pit.
The public is reminded that permits may be required to alter shore lands on public or private property.
Contact a local ministry office at ontario.ca/mnroffices before beginning any shore land work. Landowners are also encouraged to confirm the boundaries of their property by visiting the provincial Land Registry Office in their jurisdiction.
