A Texas-based cargo barge operator has agreed to pay $12.2 million to settle with a B.C. First Nations for environmental damage from a 2016 tugboat diesel spill.
The deal with the Heiltsuk First Nation, based in Bella Bella, requires the company to participate in a traditional washing and healing ceremony and to provide 90 days’ notice when transiting the nation’s waters.
When the Nathan E. Stewart tug boat ran aground in the nation’s territory on Oct. 13, 2016, it spilled approximately 110,000 litres of diesel fuel and another 2,000 litres of lubricant into prime clam-harvesting grounds and cultural practice areas.
The Heiltsuk say the spill polluted more than 350 km of coastline and left lifelong impacts for those who live there.
“While we understand the financial settlement is twice the limitation amount under the Western legal system, it is still a small portion of our total losses,” Heiltsuk elected Chief Marilyn Slett said in a Monday (June 8) news release, “and it shows just how inadequate Canada’s oil spill liability and compensation system is when it comes to protecting Indigenous people from catastrophic cultural loss.”
Slett recently travelled to London, U.K., to push for oil spill liability reform and draw attention to the lasting impacts of these disasters.
The Transportation Safety Board found that the boat running aground was likely caused by a watchkeeper falling asleep, and that Transport Canada had not done enough to prevent fatigue.
The First Nation is still seeking compensation from the federal government and Canada’s Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund, as well as regulatory reform.
Slett called the federal government’s absence in the settlement agreement “glaring,” especially considering Alberta’s desire to build a pipeline to the area, which would require changes to the regional ban on docking heavy oil tankers. Many coastal First Nations, including Slett’s, say the waters are too dangerous, and the possibility of a large spill is too great to rescind the ban.
“We will never give up, and we will always protect our territorial coastal waters,” Slett said.