Fuel oil clean-up under way
Terry Halifax
Northern News Services
Fort Smith (Nov 27/00) - As much as 100,000 litres of oil may have spilled at the Aurora College campus.
Now, efforts are under way to determine the most effective way to cleanup or contain the spill.
The department of works and consulting firm EBA Engineering held a meeting recently to discuss the puddle of bitumen that has pooled under the Fort Smith campus and is spreading to a residential area on Raven Crescent.
The only resident who attended the public meeting was Janice Daniels, who lives on Raven Crescent. Daniels left the meeting feeling satisfied there is no immediate risk to her family's health or her property.
"I had a couple of questions and they had some really knowledgeable and well-educated people on the project from down south," Daniels said. "They answered all my questions; they basically said, at this point there is no health risk."
Oil below surface
She said the consultant explained that the oil is about four meters below the surface, in the water table and poses little threat to students, college employees or residents.
"They said the greatest chance of causing a risk is if you have a main water break," Daniels said. "Then the water table would come up and force the oil to the surface.
"They say it's tough problem to solve and they certainly seem to be making the effort," she said.
EBA engineering has been drilling test wells around the neighbourhood to determine how the oil spill is migrating.
"They came around and got everybody's permission to drill these holes," she said.
"They drilled holes all down our street and put red pipes in them. Most of them are in the front yard, but we were lucky -- ours is in the back yard."
Daniels has her house up for sale and hopes the impact won't affect the sale of her property.
She warned that the government they better contain the spill before it does seep across the road.
"If it gets into the residential area and starts impacting people, it's going to cost the government a heck of a lot of money," she said.
Public Works regional superintendent Richard Mercredi.
"Right now the consultant is reviewing the options we have on it," Mercredi said. "We haven't heard back; they are still in the review stages."
At press time, Mercredi had not returned calls to answer questions regarding the size of the spill, when it was detected, cost of cleanup or how the spill will be cleaned up.
Consultant on the project, Paul Morton of EBA Engineering in Edmonton, declined to comment specifically at the request of their client, but said they will provide DPW with a range of cleanup options.
"We have a remediation plan under way," he said. "It's basically a list of options we have prepared for them."
Morton said the company will be providing a full report on the findings early in the New Year.
