Brookfield Gardens pleads not guilty to environment charges

A Prince Edward Island vegetable farm has pleaded not guilty to three charges under the province's Environmental Protection Act.

The allegations against Brookfield Gardens stem from an investigation into a fish kill earlier this year.

Thousands of dead fish — brook trout, rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon — were found along a 3.5-kilometre section of the North River in central P.E.I. on Aug. 9.

The charges fall under the Environmental Protection Act’s Watercourse and Wetland Protection Regulations. Two counts are related to cultivating land within 15 metres of a watercourse, and one count is related to farming on land that is too steep.

The charges relate to a field in the community of Ebenezer and only to the company's farming practices.

No link has been made to what killed the fish.

A trial date has been set for Jan. 20.