Bigger Fines Needed To Stop Ocean Oil Polluters
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Illegal Dumping By Ships Kill 300,000 Seabirds Per Year Off Newfoundland
A $70,000 fine levied against the Dutch container ship MV Project Europa on Friday for illegally discharging an oily substance into Canadian waters in August 2003 could have been much higher if the ship had been convicted under tougher new environmental legislation passed
last May (Bill C-15). The incident took place approximately 65 miles south of
Cape Race Newfoundland as the ship was traveling from Spain to Montreal.
According to Dr. Robert Rangeley, Atlantic Marine Program Director, World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF-Canada), the new legislation helps to bring Canada’s penalties into line with the United States which experiences far fewer of these incidents.
“Traditionally our fines have been too low,” said Rangeley. “It’s clear
that $70,000 fines have not proven high enough to discourage bad actors from dumping bilge oil in Canadian waters. In the United States, fines have been in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, and along with greater enforcement, have been instrumental in reducing this problem.”
New Canadian legislation, which allows for charges under the Migratory
Bird Act and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, comes with mandatory minimum fines, ($100,000 for a summary conviction and $500,000 for an indictable offence) upon conviction and should make Canadian waters much less attractive for those companies that dump oil.
A study commissioned by WWF-Canada in 2001 called Seabirds and Atlantic Canada’s Ship-Source Oil Pollution: impacts, trends and solutions confirmed that some 300,000 seabirds died needlessly every year off the coast of Newfoundland alone due to illegal dumping by ships. Since then, WWF-Canada has been working to stop bilge oil dumping through advocating for new legislation, increased surveillance, enforcement and prosecution as well as calling for industry leadership on this issue.
“Hopefully this new legislation, along with a renewed commitment by the Federal Government to increase enforcement and cooperation among government agencies, will put an end to this illegal activity,” continued Rangeley. “The real measure of success will be if these measures actually results in much less dumping of oil, and therefore far fewer seabirds dying and less damage to our marine environment. We will continue monitor the results to make sure that this happens.”
@ August 29, 2005