http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/oil-spill-pay-bc-coast-1.4629073
[I hope they're not in a hurry for the money. The standard practice for
a U.S. oil company is to use every legal delay possible to avoid paying
their pollution-related obligations. Polluter pays? Maybe, eventually.]
Years after oil spills, money still owed to Vancouver, aquarium and
Heiltsuk Nation
'Polluter pay' laws have yet to pay up for city, aquarium and Central
Coast nation
The Canadian Press · Posted: Apr 20, 2018 1:48 PM PT | Last Updated:
April 21
Despite "polluter pay" laws in Canada, local governments and agencies
are still waiting to recover costs incurred during two significant fuel
spills off B.C.'s coast.
The City of Vancouver and Vancouver Aquarium are collectively waiting on
nearly $700,000 in losses related to a 2015 leak of bunker fuel, while
the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bella, B.C., continues negotiating over
$200,000 in repayments for its response to a tugboat that ran aground in
2016.
Transport Canada, which oversees spill response, said in a statement
that under the current regime, ship owners are strictly liable for
spills — up to a limit based on the size of the vessel — and all vessels
must have insurance for oil pollution damages.
The government also maintains a Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund to
compensate Canadians, including businesses and local governments, when
costs are beyond what a ship owner covers or when the source is unknown.
'Unable to come to an agreement'
In the days following the 2,700-litre fuel leak in Vancouver's English
Bay in April 2015, Transport Canada claimed the bulk carrier ship MV
Marathassa was the source.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a statement that the
Canadian Coast Guard spent more than $2.4 million in its response to the
leak. [that's about $1,000 per litre spilled, and by no means was all
of it cleaned up]
That money was repaid by the federal pollution fund after the government
and vessel owner "were unable to come to an agreement in a timely
manner," the statement said.
The City of Vancouver said it spent $500,000 on staff salaries,
equipment costs and third-party groups to help in the cleanup.
Spokesman Jag Sandhu said the city asked for compensation from the
ship's owner but has since filed a claim with the federal pollution fund.
'An exceptional circumstance'
Peter Ross, a scientist with the Vancouver Aquarium, said roughly
$180,000 was spent on environmental testing when little information was
being released immediately after the fuel spill.
The aquarium draws water from English Bay, Ross said, and staff were
concerned that the fuel posed a risk to its wildlife.
"We basically acknowledged it was going to be expensive but it was
really an exceptional circumstance where we couldn't really worry about
the money at that point, we had to know whether our collection was at
risk," he said.
Ross said the tests found fuel reached beaches in Porty Moody, roughly
12 kilometres away, and mussels collected in English Bay had taken up oil.
Ross said the aquarium was negotiating compensation with the owners of
the Marathassa and had been offered about 20 cents for every dollar
spent, which he called unacceptable.
Charges against Marathassa
Lawyer Peter Swanson, who is representing the vessel, declined to
comment on the ongoing negotiations, which he said are confidential.
Alassia NewShips Management Inc., the operator of the Marathassa, also
declined to comment.
The Marathassa is facing 10 environment-related charges in B.C.
provincial court, including allegations it violated the Fisheries Act
and the Canadian Environment Protection Act. Hearings are scheduled
through to May.
Alassia faces similar charges, but a B.C. Court of Appeal decision
earlier this year determined the Greek company has not been properly
served a summons, preventing allegations from going ahead.
Community still feeling effects
In Bella Bella, a community of 1,600 people along B.C.'s central coast,
the Heiltsuk Nation said it's still working to recover $150,000 paid out
in its response to the spill of 107,000 litres of diesel and 2,240
litres of lubricants from the Nathan E. Stewart in October 2016.
Chief Councillor Marilyn Slett said $100,000 went to resources such as
offices, boats and staff while $50,000 went to monitoring and testing at
the site.
Slett said the nation was communicating with vessel owners Kirby
Offshore Marine, based in Houston, but nothing had been settled. Kirby
did not respond to requests for comment.
Slett said the community continues to feel the effects of the spill. Its
commercial clam fishery remains closed and they are concerned about
other affected species.
"We're doing some testing with the purpose of understanding the health
of the resources and the ecosystem and the safety of consuming the
resources," she said, adding the ocean is considered the nation's "bread
basket."
Slett said the Heiltsuk is gathering materials for a possible legal
claim against the company.
"We didn't expect it would take this long and we didn't expect that
there would be issues with them paying for their own costs for a spill
they were responsible for in Heiltsuk territory," she said.
Vancouver lawyer Christopher Giaschi, who specializes in maritime and
transportation law, said the two cases appear to be exceptional and the
legal framework is effective, with most claims involving small spills
resolved within a year.
Transport Canada said in a statement the new Oceans Protection Plan will
strengthen the current system by allowing unlimited compensation from
the federal pollution fund, amending the tax paid by industry to
increase the fund when depleted, and speed up access to that money for
responders and communities that need it.
