December 2, 2019 — Canada’s Cooke has reportedly paid $2.75 million to settle a lawsuit with NGO Wild Fish Conservancy, brought after the collapse of 10 Atlantic salmon pens in the US state of Washington in 2017.
The lawsuit — brought in November 2017 by the Northwest arm of the NGO — was set to go to court in Seattle on Dec. 3. On Nov. 27, myclallamcounty.com reported comments from Kurt Beardslee, executive director of the NGO, announcing the settlement. Cooke then confirmed the settlement to Undercurrent News.
“This afternoon, Cooke agreed to a settlement over the Clean Water Act violations with us. It was a $2.75m settlement,” said Beardslee. About half of the settlement will pay for legal expenses, he said.
The rest of it’s going to the Rose Foundation, which is going to be opening up to receive grant opportunities “for helping to save wild salmon and killer whales”, said Beardslee.
“Out of respect for the judicial process, we will not comment on the settlement contents given that this agreement takes effect upon entry by the court,” said a spokesman for Cooke.