VANCOUVER ISLAND — A pulp and paper mill has been fined $25,500 for discharging more than a million litres of toxic waste into the ocean. The penalty, handed to Catalyst Paper’s Crofton Mill, dates back to the summer of 2021, when it was found responsible for six failures to comply with its permit. …On July 23, 2021, a component on one of the mill’s pumps failed, leading to the discharge of a million litres of effluent, storm and sea water into the ocean. That discharge later led to the death of 90 per cent of rainbow trout in a toxicity test. Inspections concluded that the company had failed to regularly inspect an expansion joint on the pump. Catalyst disputed its failure to comply with its permits, submitting it could not have predicted the component’s failure. …“I find that Catalyst has failed to provide any evidence to support these assertions,” wrote Environmental Management Act director Jason Bourgeois in his Jan. 9 decision.