OKIB agrees to $300M settlement with feds to clean up unexploded ordnance

Okanagan Indian Band has come to a $300-million settlement with the federal government to clear unexploded explosive ordnance from its land.

Okanagan Indian Band members voted overwhelmingly in support of accepting the settlement offer, which will allow for thousands of acres of land to be cleared of leftover military hardware.

“This unexploded explosive ordnance settlement was a long time coming, and it is the product of all the tireless efforts by Okanagan Indian Band Chiefs and Councils and their staff since the end of WW2 to today,” Okanagan Indian Band Chief Dan Wilson said in a statement to its members.

The settlement comes eight years after the band began legal action against the government, arguing it should be compensated for the cost of clearing up the land that was used by the Department of National Defence for military training activities between 1943 and 1990.

Along with compensation for the clean-up, the band also argued for costs for the loss of use of the land over the years.

The band took the government’s settlement offer to its members for a referendum, which passed 481 to 194.

In a memo to members, the band says that if it did not accept the settlement, it would have to continue negotiations, which would take another couple of years and had no guarantee they would be as successful.

Information given to band members says $270-million of the money will be spent on clearing roughly 4,400 acres of land of the unexploded explosive ordnance.

Accepting the money also means the band cannot sue the federal government again for any losses involving the unexploded explosive ordnance.

It’s estimated that the clean-up will take three years.

While the band has settled this lawsuit, it still has several other suits outstanding against the Crown.