Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (July 06/05) - Transport Canada is pressing four charges - with maximum fines likely totalling more than $300,000 - against a Labrador-based shipping company in connection with three separate fuel spills in the Kivalliq region.

Woodward's spills: Aug. 8, 2003Coral Harbour : 1,500 litres, one charge laid July 22, 2004 Rankin Inlet: 1,000 litres, one charge laid Aug. 22 Pond Inlet: 10,000 litres, no charges laid due to lack of evidence Oct. 22, 2004 Coral Harbour: 200 litres: two charges laid

Despite the charges, the government has renewed a three-year agreement with the same company, saying Woodward's Oil Ltd. has made a number of procedural changes.

Court documents show the Woodward's-owned M.T. Mokami vessel faces three charges under the Arctic Waters Pollution Act of putting oil or an oily mixture into the waters of Coral Harbour and Rankin Inlet between August 2003 and October 2004. According to the act, each charge carries a maximum fine of $100,000.

The federal investigation into the spills began last summer, shortly after the Rankin incident.

A charge relating to a lack of properly functioning discharge monitoring equipment has also been laid under the Canada Shipping Act, though maximum penalties are not clearly specified.

All three spills were reported to be less than 1,500 litres and were cleaned up by the company, though at least 500 litres in one of the Coral Harbour spills was said to be unrecoverable.

The renewed contract between the GN and Woodward's to deliver gas, diesel and aviator fuel to the Kivalliq and Baffin regions takes effect in the 2006 season.

But the agreement can be cancelled if the company experiences "performance problems," such as another spill, according to Tom Rich, deputy minister with Community and Government Services, which handles the territory's fuel supply.

Good response

"We're seeing a good, positive response from the company," said Rich.

A number of changes recommended by the GN and Transport Canada have been implemented, he said, including the use of longer hoses, sturdier steel instead of aluminum hose connections, weekly equipment inspections, and enrolment in an international safety program.

With the new equipment and procedures, Rich said the public should not be concerned.

"We operate in a harsh environment," he said of the Arctic's higher probability of equipment failure, adding long-serving GN staff have told him "small spills certainly have happened in the past."

Previous supplier

Prior to 2003, Northern Transportation Company Ltd. had shipped the Kivalliq region's fuel for 27 years and delivered the Baffin's supply for six. The company still ships the Kitikmeot supply.

The three Kivalliq spills have not been Woodward's only problems since winning the re-supply contract in 2003.

Last fall, no charges were laid by Transport Canada with respect to a 10,000-litre spill involving a different Woodward's vessel near the North Baffin community of Pond Inlet because of what the department called a lack of evidence.

The same ship was reported to have had its hull damaged by ice on the way into Iqaluit, though no fuel was believed to have entered Frobisher Bay.

Woodward's case will have a first hearing before the Nunavut Court of Justice in Rankin Inlet, Aug. 15.

Calls to Woodward's Happy-Valley Goose Bay office for comment were not returned before deadline.