Roger Sterritt, the Manager of the Gitga’at Emergency Response Team, has confirmed to CFNR News that the Gitga’at First Nation had responded to the grounding of a barge just North of Butedale in the early morning hours of Sunday, December 14th.
Sterritt said the barge was being towed by a US flagged tugboat and had run around off Butedale, but had stayed afloat and did not release any contaminants into the environment. He confirmed the tugboat responsible for it was able to pull it safely to Whale Channel nearby, where it was then inspected by a Transport Canada crew, found to be safe, and given the approval to depart for Alaska, accompanied by an additional tugboat and crew.
The tugboats and barge had departed for Alaska around 7:00am this past Friday, December 19th, remaining within Gitga’at waters for about 6 days.
Sterritt says a statement from the Nation will be forthcoming once they’ve compiled and reviewed all the details from the investigation.
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