A provincial court judge asked a lawyer to tell him why he shouldn't send a North Vancouver drycleaning company owner to jail after the company pleaded guilty to violating environmental regulations in a way that allowed a toxic chemical to evaporate into the air.
"He endangered the health of every customer that walked into the store," Judge Steven Merrick told lawyers at a sentencing hearing for Lester's Dry-cleaning, represented by sole director and officer Alhamid Dharshi. "Why shouldn't I send him to jail?"
The questions came after Lester's pleaded guilty to keeping the dry-cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene known as "PERC" without a closed lid and without a secondary containment system, as required by regulations.
The company was charged after environmental protection officers conducted an inspection on June 21 last year and found two buckets - one containing green liquid and another containing solid material -sitting on the floor. "There were no lids on either of the buckets," said Crown counsel Perbeen Mann.
Dharshi confirmed both buckets contained PERC and told officers he had had no containment system for three or four months prior to the inspection, said Mann.
Lester's was one of 48 Lower Mainland dry-cleaning businesses inspected last summer.
Mann said breathing PERC can be harmful. The chemical has been recognized as carcinogenic.
"There are some serious consequences," she said, adding that's why the chemical is heavily regulated.
Dizziness can happen if someone breathes air containing PERC at a concentration of 200 parts per million and inhalation at 6,000 parts per million can be fatal, said Mann.
Worksafe B.C. regulations specify that workers shouldn't be exposed to any more than 25 parts per million over a 15-minute period, she said, with a maximum of four 15-minute periods over eight hours.
Mann added that when PERC evaporates into the environment, its chemical components contribute to depletion of the ozone layer.
Environment Canada investigators did not test the air for the concentration of PERC at Lester's, she added.
Mann said it's not the first time company owners have run afoul of environmental regulations. Dharshi and the dry-cleaning company also received warnings about violations for storing PERC improperly in 2004, 2006 and 2011.
Merrick told lawyers that was concerning, asking how customers would be assured of safety when they walk into a dry-cleaning shop if those who break the rules aren't subject to serious deterrents.
Merrick acknowledged there's no precedent for a jail term, adding the regulations only came into force in 2003.
The hearing was adjourned until July.
