SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A man ordered to pay $51,000 towards the costs of a fuel spill that occurred outside an Ingraham Trail cabin stormed out of court on Dec. 10.

Garry Johnson will have to pay a total of $51,000 in compensation for an April 15, 2009, fuel spill that occurred while he was unlawfully occupying Crown land. - NNSL file photo

Judge Garth Malakoe fined Garry Johnson $1,000 and is making him pay $50,000 in restitution to the federal government for the April 15, 2009 spill.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Fox was seeking $152,261.26 for the clean-up and lab testing costs incurred from the estimated 22 to 45 litres of fuel that spilled from Johnson's 1,135 litre fuel tank on the ground and into a nearby lake connected to the Cameron River system. Contractors hired by the government removed 229,000 kilograms of soil from the site and replaced it with clean soil.

Malakoe explained that he didn't find Johnson's testimony on the amount of fuel spilled to be "convincing," but it was the only evidence available.

Johnson was charged under the NWT Waters Act on Jan. 19, 2010 and pleaded guilty to the charge on June 22.

Malakoe told the court Johnson had been unlawfully occupying a cabin and other buildings on Crown land in an area off kilometre 35 along the Ingraham Trail.

Malakoe was critical of Johnson for leaving the clean-up to the federal government after he wasn't able to finance his own clean-up plan. He also disagreed with Johnson's characterization of the spill as "minor."

Malakoe further argued that the spill must be treated seriously because if every cabin in that area spilled fuel, it would be tantamount to a "death of 1,000 cuts" for the environment.

The judge said the amount of the restitution order accounted for Johnson's claim he's $100,000 in debt and that his income as a heavy equipment operator and truck driver dropped to $35,000 from a high of $80,000 - although Malakoe said Johnson's explanation for the decrease was "confusing." Even though the Crown didn't receive the full amount it was seeking, Malakoe noted the remainder could be sought through civil court action.

After the decision, Fox told reporters the judge's decision was "very well reasoned." He also said it was in some sense "lucky" the spill happened where it did.

"Were this to have happened in a more isolated area, the likelihood of it being discovered would have been commensurately lower ... and the cost of clean-up would have been commensurately higher."

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