Ontario Construction News staff writer
PARRY SOUND – A property owner and a demolition contractor have been ordered to pay a combined $157,501 after damaging habitat used by the Chimney Swift, a threatened bird species, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks says.
Marble Arch Corporation, owner of a former hospital site on Church Street, and Adam Watson, a contractor hired to demolish buildings on the property, were each convicted of one offence under the Endangered Species Act. Marble Arch was fined $1 and ordered to pay $107,501 to Birds Canada to support Chimney Swift conservation. Watson was fined $1 and ordered to pay $50,000.
The offences occurred between June 3 and September 30, 2020, when demolition work at the site disrupted the birds’ roosting habitat. Hundreds of Chimney Swifts had been documented using the site’s large brick chimney each year between 2015 and 2019 during their spring and summer migration through the Parry Sound area.
“Chimney Swifts rely on vertical structures like this chimney for communal roosting, and these habitats are increasingly rare,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Protecting existing roosting locations is critical to the survival of this species.”
Court documents show the demolition exposed a large hole near the base of the chimney, causing the number of birds using the site to drop to zero by mid-June 2020 and remain extremely low for the rest of the season. The hole was not covered until September 3, 2020.
Both Marble Arch and Watson were aware that the chimney was an active roosting site and that a permit under the Endangered Species Act would have been required before beginning work that could affect the Chimney Swift or its habitat, the ministry said.
The fines were accompanied by court orders requiring Marble Arch to repair and maintain the chimney and install specified equipment to aid in the birds’ recovery. Payment deadlines are set for Oct. 7, 2028, for Marble Arch and Dec. 31, 2028, for Watson.
The convictions followed an investigation by the ministry’s Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch, the ministry said.
