VIDEO: Heiltsuk Describe Legacy of Last Year’s Spill

This year’s Friday the 13th was the anniversary of the oil spill off Bella Bella.

The tugboat Nathan E. Stewart, owned by U.S. company Kirby Offshore Marine, spilled 100,000 litres of fuel when it ran aground last year.

“It was a disaster,” said Harvey Humchitt in the above video by DeSmog Canada. Humchitt is a hereditary chief of Heiltsuk First Nation. “Talk about their world-class response. When the Nathan E. Stewart ran aground, we didn’t see any of that at all.”

The tugboat sat on the sea floor for a month.

The waters are part of the “learning grounds” of the First Nation, said Russell Windsor, a first responder from the Heiltsuk community.

“When I was younger, I was brought here to learn how to fish, hunt, clam dig,” he said.

The spill shut down the local clam fishery for 50 seasonal workers. The Heiltsuk say the manila clam beds provide income of up to $150,000 per year for the community of 1,500. A damage assessment alone would cost about half a million, according to Heiltsuk integrated resource management.

“It angered the nation,” said Windsor. “It took the spirit of the nation away too. Even today it hurts to be where we are, knowing the damage that had been done… not only to this generation but to our future generations.”

The Heiltsuk plans to pursue legal action.

Watch the DeSmog Canada video above to hear from the community itself.