The Office of Wet’suwet’en is investigating two oil fuel spills that occurred on its territory.
The spills occurred near the Morice West Forest Service Area.
One of the spills was around the RCMP Community-Industry Safety Office and the other was near a work camp around the Coastal Gas Link pipeline.
The volume of the spill is estimated to be around 500 litres according to CGL.
According to the RCMP on May 19, RCMP members attended the C-ISO with maintenance technicians to conduct a routine check and the technicians noted a fuel line for the generator had failed overnight causing a spill of diesel fuel.
“The facility owner immediately notified the appropriate government agencies to test for environmental contamination and removed affected soils,” Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said.
On May 22, the Office of Wet’suwet’en and the Hereditary Chiefs for the territory was advised of the spill and the status of the clean-up by the responsible company.
CGL spokesperson, Suzanne Wilton said it is believed to have occurred during the winter months when the site was unoccupied.
“Coastal GasLink followed all protocols and responded immediately to address the situation, and reported it to the appropriate regulators,” she said.
She added a cause has been determined but did not specify what the cause was.
According to Cpl. Saunderson, the RCMP have been liaising with the responsible company and continuing to provide updates to the Office of the Wet’suwet’en and conducting visits.
The RCMP is also not currently using the C-ISO but conducts daily checks of the facility.
Vista Radio has reached out to the Office of Wet’suwet’en but did not hear back in time for publication.