Statement By Heiltsuk Nation on 5th Anniversary of Nathan E. Stewart Oil Spill

Press Release

BELLA BELLA, BRITISH COLUMBIA – (Oct. 13, 2021) – Elected Chief Marilyn Slett of the Heiltsuk Nation issued the following statement on the 5th anniversary of the Nathan E. Stewart oil spill, which spilled 110,000 litres of diesel fuel, and other pollutants into Gale Pass, an important Heiltsuk food harvesting, village, and cultural site.

The Nathan E. Stewart was an American-owned tug and articulated barge, operated by Kirby Corporation.

“Five years after this devastating oil spill, our nation is still waiting for environmental justice, having been left to fundraise and conduct our own environmental impact assessment, with an estimated cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“While the support we have received from the public is inspiring, the ongoing situation where the polluter is left off the hook, and we – the victims of the spill – are left to do the environmental assessment and restoration that should have happened long ago, raises serious questions about the BC and federal governments’ commitment to reconciliation and ocean protection.

“Kirby Corporation has annual revenues of $2-3 billion per year. The BC government’s own Environmental Management Act, enables the government to make them pay, and yet BC has declined to do so. The federal government also has a Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund reporting close to $410 million dollar surpluses, and a $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan, and yet nothing has been done. How is this possible? How can it be justified?

“We continue to call on Kirby Corporation and the BC and Canadian governments to do the right thing, and to support a Heiltsuk-led environmental impact assessment, which is consistent with our laws and traditional environmental knowledge, and to honour their own legislation like the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which is supposed to implement rights for Indigenous people related to compensation and the conservation and protection of the environment and productive capacity of our lands and territories.

“We will continue with our civil claim against Kirby, BC and Canada until we receive justice, and we thank the thousands of supporters who have donated funds to towards our ongoing environmental impact assessment for the benefit of all Canadians. Gayasixa.”

For more information, or to arrange interviews:

Chief Marilyn Slett

(250) 957-7721

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