Alta. oil spill won't flow into N.W.T.: official
A town official in Fort Smith, N.W.T., is assuring residents that crude oil from a massive spill in northern Alberta will not seep into the local Slave River.
Brenda Black, Fort Smith's senior administrative officer, told CBC News that crude from the Rainbow pipeline leak will not travel down the Peace River and into the Slave River.
Many in Fort Smith, a town of about 2,500 located near the Northwest Territories-Alberta border, have expressed concerns since a Plains Midstream Canadapipeline leaked nearly 4.5 million litres of crude oil northeast of Peace River, Alta., late last week, contaminating eight acres of beaver ponds and muskeg in a densely forested area.
Plains Midstream Canada apologized on Friday for not having "more direct communication" with affected parties following the pipeline leak which is considered to be one of the largest oil spills in that province's history.
Company officials say the leaking line has been repaired and is waiting to come back into operation.
Most of the oil collected
The Peace and Slave rivers are both in the Mackenzie watershed, with the Peace River flowing into the Slave River.
Black said on Thursday that environmental assessment officers with the Alberta government say most of the spilled oil has been collected. Any oil that has not been collected is in a marsh area, away from any moving water, she added.
The Town of Fort Smith will be notified by the Alberta government if anything changes, Black added.
A spokesperson for Parks Canada, which operates Wood Buffalo National Park, said staff are waiting to find out how successful cleanup efforts are in Alberta before deciding whether to take any emergency measures.
But some in Fort Smith and along the Slave River said they should have been alerted as soon as the pipeline started leaking near Peace River.
Response procedures questioned
"I'm surprised that no one has alerted the leaders in the community to … be on the watch for something," said Ken Hudson, president of the Fort Smith Métis Council.
Western Arctic NDP MP Dennis Bevington, who is from Fort Smith, questioned Alberta's response procedures in light of the oil spill.
"They deserve better notification. They deserve to know that the equipment being used is modern enough to detect a leak of this size before it gets to the catastrophic level that it did," he said.
Meanwhile, area elder Sonny MacDonald said he fears the worst for the Slave River, which is undergoing the annual spring breakup.
"We are in the spring thaw and I'm sure they ain't going to catch all of the spill because of pockets of snow and ice," he said.
"The aftermath is unbelievable, what could take place."