Sign up for the battlefordsNOW newsletter

Local spill clean up concluded, monitoring continues

Jun 29, 2017 | 10:00 AM

Husky Energy has completed its local area clean-up work following the July 21, 2016, oil spill that affected the North Battleford area, but it is continuing its monitoring efforts.

Husky clean-up project manager Chris Meloche gave a report to City of North Battleford council on Monday with an update of Husky’s monitoring, assessment and clean-up work.

“No further assessment or clean-up is required for the North Battleford area, including Finlayson Island,” he said, while adding monitoring work is still ongoing.

Meloche said crews used teams of oil-sniffing dogs specially trained to detect buried oil traces. 

In May, Husky workers identified 40 small patties of oil around Finlayson Island, as well as some wood pieces with oil stains. The team collected and removed all items containing oil.

Meloche said Husky has no further issues. Husky covered a nine-kilometre area of shoreline in North Battleford and on Finlayson Island in its recent work.

Monitoring work

As part of their monitoring work, the Husky crew has been using Submerged Oil Detection Devices (SODD).

“We hang them on a rope that goes from the bottom of the river to the top,” Meloche told council. 

These devices can show if there is any oil in the water since oil will stick to them when they are submerged into the river. 

Husky used the devices last year and again in 2017.  

“In North Battleford we have not detected anything,” said Meloche. “We’ll continue monitoring for another couple of weeks into July — that’s important. We are not seeing any oil suspended or moving through the water column, based on these devices.” 

Meloche said crews are planning additional assessment and clean-up work by the spill-point near Maidstone in July and August this summer. In 2016, Husky recovered more than 90 per cent of the total oil spill along the river and shorelines. Husky has been consulting with First Nation communities to receive consent during its work.

Husky crews collect samples along the river, from North Battleford to where the spill occurred near Maidstone, and downstream to as far as Prince Albert, every two weeks.

“We have not had any exceedances of any fresh water aquatic life or potable water quality this year,” Meloche said. In North Battleford, sediment samples from the river also have not exceeded regulatory requirements. The North Battleford samples also didn’t show any petroleum hydrocarbons present.

Meloche said Husky’s monitoring has been thorough.

The team not only studied water quality for drinking water supply use, water for recreational purposes, and for livestock use, they also studied the ecosystem impact.

They looked at fish populations and organisms that live in the sediment. Husky collected more 8,000 fish in 2016 to test for oil.

The Husky representative said the river water is safe for fresh fish consumption, and there have been no issues.

Husky has been working with the Ministry of Environment and the Water Security Agency as part of its monitoring process. 

It has also been attending quarterly meetings with City of North Battleford administration.

Hydrocarbon levels safe

City of North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater is satisfied with Husky’s efforts to keep council up to date.

“They have indicated the shoreline around the Battlefords and area including Finlayson Island has been investigated, and has been cleaned,” said the mayor. “They feel they have collected over 90 per cent of the oil that’s accounted for. So that is encouraging to hear. They are doing a bi-weekly testing of river water quality. That will continue until the Water Security Agency decides that it is no longer necessary.

“They are committed to the cleaning of the shoreline and the river water in the North Saskatchewan River,” added Bater. “We do appreciate our relationship with them, and we appreciate the communication we have been receiving from them.”

“All of the testing indicates that there are no exceedances in the hydrocarbon levels in the river,” added the mayor.

City of North Battleford continues to supplement its water supply with water from the Town of Battleford since the spill occurred.

The city also added a new filtration system at the F.E. Holliday Water Treatment Plant in North Battleford to keep out hydrocarbons. It has also installed four new wells. 

“We do have a pipeline from the Town of Battleford still in effect,” Bater said, adding North Battleford will continue to follow its three-prong strategy until it hears from the Water Security Agency “that these measures are no longer required.”  

A total of 225,000 litres of oil spilled from a crack in a section of pipe carrying oil near Maidstone, about 160 metres from the banks of the North Saskatchewan River on July 21, 2016. While about 60 per cent of the spill was contained on land, the remainder entered the river. Last year, Husky was able to recover about 210,000 litres, leaving about 15,000 litres left to locate. The clean-up work has been continuing in 2017.  

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW