A judge has dismissed charges against the province in the Lemon Creek fuel spill but convicted a truck driver.
Danny Lasante was found guilty today of one count in the August 2013 incident.
His tanker truck overturned into the creek spilling 33,000 litres of jet fuel into the creek and Slocan River.
Judge Lisa Mrozinski found he didn’t take reasonable steps to prevent the accident.
Lasante was looking for a staging area for helicopters fighting a forest fire but turned onto the wrong road.
Seven other counts against him under the fisheries and environmental management acts were stayed.
The judge also found the ministries of forests and environment not guilty of the same offences.
A date for sentencing will be fixed April 3.
In convicting Lasante in Nelson today, Mrozinski rejected his application to have the charges dismissed because of the length of time it took for the case to come to trial.
Mrozinski ruled that the case did not exceed the provisions of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Jordan ruling, which state that the Crown must conclude trials within 18 months.
Executive Flight Centre, for whom Lasante was driving, previously used the Jordan ruling to successfully argue that identical charges against the company should be stayed.
The Crown is appealing that decision.