Nov 14 (Reuters) - The Ontario government fined Imperial

Oil C$900,000 ($641,391) for a slop oil leak into a

tank containment area at its Sarnia site in 2021 that had an

adverse effect on people.

Slop oil is a waste product that is typically composed of

crude oil, water and waste solids and can contain various

contaminants like hydrogen sulphide.

The Canadian company pleaded guilty under the Environmental

Protection Act in a provincial court on Sept. 16, a spokesperson

said, for an occurrence on April 15, 2021, where nearly 1,150

litres (7.3 barrels) of slop oil was discharged.

The discharge adversely affected people at two nearby

businesses and residents of Aamjiwnaang First Nation, as per the

court bulletin from Nov. 13.

Imperial has 90 days to pay the fine along with a victim

fine surcharge of C$225,000.

"We regret this incident, and we accept the fine imposed by

the court. Imperial has since made changes to its equipment

maintenance plan by modifying the criteria used to prioritize

repairs to mitigate the risk of a reoccurrence of the same

incident," the company spokesperson said.

In August this year, Imperial - majority owned by Exxon

- also had an administrative penalty of C$50,000

($35,632) imposed on it due to a months-long toxic tailings leak

at the oil and gas producer's Kearl oil sands mine.

($1 = 1.4032 Canadian dollars)