Nunavut Homeowner Ordered To Pay $55,000 For Heating Oil Tank Spill

The authors wish to thank Mark Youden, Student-at-Law, for his contributions to this article.

On April 13, 2015 a homeowner from Apex, Nunavut was ordered to pay the Government of Nunavut $55,000 in restitution for clean up expenditures resulting from environmental damage caused by a home heating oil tank leak. Ms. Simonsen was also fined $500, which marks the first time an individual has been fined under Nunavut's Environmental Protection Act for a discharge of fuel oil into the environment.

In January 2011, Ms. Simonsen's tank leaked about 600 litres of fuel into the environment. The fuel oil discharge flowed to the edge of Apex Creek, which is connected to tidewater in the Koojessee Inlet. As a result, the Government of Nunavut ordered Ms. Simonsen to clean up the spill. Due to her failure to comply with the order the Government of Nunavut was required to take action and remediate the spill, at a cost of almost $200,000.