Kaniekehaka Nation at Kahnawake Oil Spill Response

Upset over how the oil spill was apparently mishandled, tomorrow, the Kaniekehaka Nation at Kahnawake, People of the Longhouse, will be hand delivering a message to the Mayor and Municipal Council of Chateauguay, concerning the fuel spill. The strongly worded letter is already circulating. In it, the Kaniekehaka Nation alleges a cover-up from the spill at Ford and Industrial that was first reported to Chateauguay’s emergency services on February 1^st, a fact confirmed by K1037 News last week. Kahnawake only became aware of the issue when residents in the Zachary Road area noticed the smell of diesel fuel coming from the Suzanne River nearby more than a week later. Joe Deom is a spokesperson for the Longhouse:

“The Mayor of Chateauguay when the oil spill occurred failed to notify Kahnawake for about 12 days and in the meantime we were trying to find the source of the diesel or fuel oil that was appearing on Zachary Road and we could have been a lot more proactive if we had been notified immediately that the spill occurred that we would be able to better prevent further contamination.”

In the letter, the Kaniekehaka Nation alleges a cover-up from the spill at Ford and Industrial, a spill that was first reported to Chateauguay’s emergency services on February 1^st. This fact was confirmed by K1037 News last week.