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LETTER: Dismissal of oil-spill charges is inconceivable

Dear editor: I am writing to express my concern about Provincial Court Justice Kathryn Denhoff’s recent dismissal of all charges against the ship MV Marathassa for the 2,700-litre spill of oil in English Bay on April 8, 2015.
oil spill sign

Dear editor:

I am writing to express my concern about Provincial Court Justice Kathryn Denhoff’s recent dismissal of all charges against the ship MV Marathassa for the 2,700-litre spill of oil in English Bay on April 8, 2015.

Further, Alassia Newships Management Inc., a Greek shipping firm, was also charged with a number of environmental offences, but following a ruling that found the company was not properly served a summons, the case against the firm was not proceeded with at the Vancouver trial.

To add insult to injury, the City of Vancouver is still fighting to recover $550,000 in costs incurred by Metro Vancouver taxpayers to clean up after the MV Marathassa’s bunker fuel spill, three years later. 

So, despite a significant oil spill in broad daylight in English Bay, where the source of the oil spill was clearly confirmed (the MV Marathassa) and the ownership of the vessel was clearly confirmed (Alassia Newships Management Inc.), our British Columbian justice system is unable to secure a conviction against the vessel nor the shipping company.

How is it conceivable then that anyone, our federal government, the people of Canada (who now own the Trans Mountain Pipeline) and the oil Industry think that residents of Metro Vancouver should accept the risks posed to our community by significantly expanding both the pipeline, the quantity of vessels and the size of the vessels?

Chris Wilson
North Vancouver

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