Kirby Pays $250,00 Toward Bunker Spill Clean Up on Canadian West Coast

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday October 21, 2016

U.S.-based Kirby Offshore Marine (Kirby) has paid $250,000 to the Heiltsuk Nation after the company's tug grounded off British Columbia's coast late last week, spilling an undefined amount of bunkers in the water, Canadian media reports.

As Ship & Bunker previously reported, the tug Nathan E. Stewart and fuel barge DBL 55 at ran aground in the Seaforth Channel last Thursday, with the first nation community said to have undertaken the majority of the clean up efforts.

The tug is said to have been loaded with 59,924 gallons of diesel fuel at the time of the grounding, with 6,554 gallons of that successfully removed before the tug sunk.

Marilyn Slett, the Chief Councillor of the Heiltsuk Nation, says the response of the industry and government have been "wholly inadequate," adding that clean up efforts have been challenged by slow response times and not enough response vessels, appropriate equipment, or personnel.

Slett also says the fuel spill has already fouled clam beds within the channel.

In September, Ship & Bunker reported that Kirby Inland Marine L.P. (Kirby) would pay $4.9 million in penalties under the Clean Water Act in relation to a 168,000 gallon oil spill in the Houston Ship Channel, which occurred in March 2014.