Firm gets $2.9M fine for spill that sullied Heiltsuk waters

BELLA BELLA The company responsible for a fuel spill that contaminated the fishing territory of a First Nation on British Columbia’s central coast has been fined $2.9 million, but the chief of the Heiltsuk says the sentence is a long way from justice.

Texas-based Kirby Corp. pleaded guilty in May to three separate counts after the tug Nathan E. Stewart ran aground and sank, spilling 110,000 litres of diesel and heavy oils in October 2016.

The guilty pleas were under the Fisheries Act, the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Pilotage Act for the spill that damaged both fish and birds, and for failing to have a pilot aboard the vessel.

The Transportation Safety Board ruled last May that a crew member missed a planned course change because he fell asleep while alone on watch.

Chief Marilyn Slett said Tuesday the Heiltsuk Nation wanted the company to be banned from its territorial waters until there is proper restitution in accordance with the nation’s traditional laws to respect the land and people who depend on the sea for sustenance and jobs. Slett, along with elders and youth as well as representatives for Kirby, participated in a sentencing circle during provincial court proceedings held in a gymnasium in Bella Bella before Judge Brent Hoy announced the sentence.

“The effects of the spill have rippled throughout our community,” Slett said in her victim-impact statement.

“Our community was traumatized by the actions of visitors in our territory, and we have collectively grieved and mourned our losses.”

“It was emotional,” she said afterwards. “We’re still feeling the effects of this spill and we’re continuing to try and resume life to see what we can do moving forward to ensure that this doesn’t happen to us again.”

The community still does not have adequate resources to respond to any future incidents, Slett said.

Families can’t fish in Gale Creek and the nation is trying to gain justice through a civil lawsuit against Kirby, Slett said, adding the company has chosen not to do an environmental impact assessment.

“We have a principle that if we take care of the land, the land will take care of us,” she said.