Image: The Canadian Press

The main civil works contractor on the Site C Dam has been fined just over $310,000 by WorkSafeBC for safety violations related to the tunnelling of a drainage tunnel.

According to a penalty summary online, Peace River Hydro Partners Construction Ltd. was fined on May 8 following an inspection at the mega-project outside Fort St. John.

The inspection found that workers were exposed to crystalline silica — a lung cancer risk — due to ineffective dust suppression systems and respirators.

“Work at the site involved bulk excavation, blasting, and crushing of materials, all activities that generate large amounts of silica dust,” the WorkSafe summary reads.

“Tunnelling operations had begun before samples of the tunnelled materials had been taken and analyzed. Subsequent sampling identified high levels of crystalline silica in the tunnelled material.”

WorkSafeBC says respirators supplied to workers provided insufficient protection for the type of work being done, “a high-risk violation.”

At of May 31 the company, which is a partnership between Acciona and Samsung C&T Canada, has not filed an appeal of the penalty.