Woodland Biofuels Inc. and the Western University Research and Development Park in Sarnia have been fined a total of $77,500 under the Ontario Water Resources Act. The two pleaded guilty to one offence each of permitting the discharge of waste water into a storm water system that discharged into Perch Creek. Woodland Biofuels leased space in the park at 1086 Modeland Rd. in June 2012. On August 26, 2013 the company started a test run of a pilot plant helping to develop ethanol from waste biomass. The next day an employee identified a napthalene odour and the test run was shut down. It was later discovered that rain water and process water had filled a pond to capacity and had overflowed directly to the creek. The R & D park is owned and managed by the County of Lambton Community Development Corporation, a federal, not-for-profit corporation.
