{"id":478206,"date":"2026-06-05T19:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/478206\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T19:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:50:17","slug":"heiltsuk-nation-reaches-12-2m-settlement-with-company-involved-in-2016-tugboat-fuel-spill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/478206\/","title":{"rendered":"Heiltsuk Nation reaches $12.2M settlement with company involved in 2016 tugboat fuel spill"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

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The Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv (Heiltsuk) Nation says it has completed the first portion of a multi-part settlement after a tugboat ran aground in its territory, spilling thousands of litres of fuel into its waters.<\/p>\n

In October 2016, the United States owned tug Nathan E. Stewart ran aground in the Seaforth Channel near Bella Bella, B.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An estimated 110,000 litres of diesel and another 2,000 litres of lubricants were spilled into Qv\u00faqv\u00e1i, an important area for harvesting in the nation\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n

The first settlement is with Kirby Corporation and Henry Hendrix, the second mate of the tugboat who fell asleep during his watch. According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, he was likely responsible for the grounding of the tug.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a membership notice posted June 3, Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv Joint Leadership said the company will pay $12.2 million to the nation following a court order later this year, as well as attend healing and washing ceremonies.<\/p>\n

The spill affected marine life, food-gathering areas and access to a place that holds deep cultural meaning, the nation said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many community members, the impacts of the spill have not only been environmental and economic, but also cultural and spiritual,\u201d said the notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose impacts have continued for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April, Chief Marilyn Slett said the nation is still waiting for compensation and recovery work to begin, with over $23 million in estimated recovery costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The spill shows maritime laws covering oil spills were made without considering Indigenous Peoples and without a mechanism for compensating them for their cultural losses, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The spill threatened dozens of species harvested in the area, including manila clam beds that provided income of up to $200,000 per year\u00a0for the community, according to Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv.<\/p>\n

Settlement ‘important step,’ nation says <\/p>\n

As part of the agreement, the company will make a payment of $12.2 million to the Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv Nation once the court issues its order later this year, the nation said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Members of the company will also attend a washing ceremony in Bella Bella, and a healing ceremony at Qv\u00faqv\u00e1i.<\/p>\n

They have also agreed not to travel through the inside waters of Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv territory without first informing the nation, and discussing a memorandum of understanding on how it would operate in those waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this first settlement is an important step, it does not close this chapter,\u201d said the notice to membership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Nation remains committed to seeking accountability, supporting healing, and protecting the waters, lands, and way of life that are central to the Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement to CBC News, Kirby Corporation Vice President of Public and Government Affairs Matt Woodruff confirmed the two sides have reached a mutually agreed compromise settlement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the constructive, good-faith engagement with the Heiltsuk Tribal Council and have great respect for the Heiltsuk community,\u201d said Woodruff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize the importance of this resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv Joint Leadership said it continues to pursue remaining claims against Canada and through the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund. It is a federal compensation fund to help cover losses caused by oil spills after the ship owner has addressed responsibility.<\/p>\n

After the court issues its order for the payment, there will be a community engagement and decision regarding the settlement funds, the nation said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | ‘Conservation is just a way of life,’ Ha\u00ed\u026bzaqv Nation member says:\"\"<\/p>\n

Coastlines: \u2018Conservation is just a way of life,\u2019 Heiltsuk Nation member says<\/p>\n

As marine environments are increasingly threatened by pressures such as plastic pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change, scientists and environmental advocates are looking to implement solutions to help protect the health of our oceans. In this episode of the Creator Network\u2019s Coastlines, co-hosts Erica Porter and Connel Bradwell explore how collaboration between western science and traditional Indigneous knowledge is protecting ocean wildlife off Canada\u2019s coasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-478206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}