Hatchet Lake Band Fined For Fuel Spill

Hatchet Lake Band Fined For Fuel Spill

Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 16:07

A northern First Nation will have to pay nearly $51,000 for a fuel spill that damaged their own lake.

Judge Sid Robinson imposed the fine — which had been agreed upon in advance by the two sides — on the Hatchet Lake Dene Nation, earlier this afternoon in La Ronge Provincial Court.

The band had earlier pleaded guilty to several violations under federal and provincial environmental law, relating to the June 2006 spillage of 5,000 litres of diesel fuel into Wollaston Lake from a tank farm operated by the band since the pull-out of Wollaston Co-op, but located on Crown land.

While the band has agreed to pay the fines, defense lawyer Jack Hillson says he feels the size of environmental penaties is designed to get the attention of multi-national companies who might otherwise just ignore the damage they cause.

Hillson says this is an entirely different matter.

“It’s their lake. They’re not going anywhere. And if anyone suffers from damage to Wollaston Lake, it’s band members. So here, they’re not only the accused, they’re the victims as well,” he says.

Hillson adds that while the First Nation has taken responsibility for the spill, he agrees with Judge Robinson’s assessment that other parties should have been monitoring or giving oversight to the tank farm — namely, government regulators.