Jet Fuel Spill “Worse Than Originally Thought” – Cleanup To Last Four Weeks
CTV News has put up an excellent video about the cleanup of the jet fuel spill in kitchener and I’d encourage everyone to watch it. It does a good job of giving us some information, viewpoints and images that I feel we have been missing.
A jet fuel spill that happened over a week ago on Highway 401 is expected to take another four weeks to clean, the Ministry of Transportation says.
On Jan. 13, a tanker truck tipped over on the highway in Cambridge, spilling 50,000 litres of jet fuel onto the roadway.
“It’s within our boundaries, our waterways, and our water supply wells,” said Michael Gordon, the supervisor of environmental field services for the Region of Waterloo. “What we want is to ensure that those are safe.”
UPDATE FROM THE MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION AND PARKS January 22, 2019:
The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has directly provided the following update:
Remedial work continued throughout the weekend. While some activities were limited due to extreme cold and snowfall (eg. equipment freezing, heavy equipment relocation for 401 plowing), crews were on-site monitoring containment, collecting additional surface water samples, and making observations for any new impacted areas or wildlife.
To date, there have been no confirmed observations of sheen beyond Shade’s Mill reservoir nor impacted wildlife.
On January 21st, the Ministry received the first round of surface water sampling results from the responsible party’s consultant. Results are currently being reviewed and another round of surface water sampling results is expected from the consultant shortly. The consultant will also be submitting two remedial work plans related to ongoing work at the scene of the accident and creek containment and rehabilitation for Ministry review.
Results from the Ministry’s sampling program are expected by the end of the week.
To date, the Ministry continues to have no evidence of impacts to private wells and based on a preliminary review, no impacts to wells near the spill site are expected.
The consultant is responding to private well concerns on a case-by-case basis. Ministry staff are screening incoming calls and forwarding concerns as appropriate to the consultant based on factors such as proximity to spill site, type of well (i.e. dug, shallow, untreated), etc.
Private well concerns should continue to be directed to the Guelph District Office at 519-826-4256.
The ministry continues to follow-up on ongoing remedial work. It is important to note that significant portions of the impacted surface water, including Shade’s Mill
reservoir, are frozen, making it difficult to visually track the extent of contamination, as well as recover spilled materials. Below freezing temperatures are expected to continue into the short term.
For status on the cleanup, residents can call the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, Guelph District Office, Duty Officer at 519.826.4256.
