At 1:15 pm on Thursday March 27, a spill of crude oil was detected in the St. Clair River around the Suncor plant. The Spill Action Centre (SAC) is aware and two downstream refineries have dispatched booms to collect downstream contaminants.
Although a notice has been put out by St. Clair Township, there is currently no concern for Chatham-Kent water as a result of the spill.
The Wallaceburg Water Treatment Plant treats water from the Chenal Ecarte for its residents and customers. The Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves. As a precautionary measure, the water plant will close its water intake tomorrow morning to prevent the possibility of water contamination. The water travel time from Suncor to the intake, down the St Clair River, is approximately 24 hours.
A release by Suncor states:
"Suncor is responding to an incident involving the St. Clair River. Our first priority is always for the safety of our employees, community members, and the environment, and we are making notifications to the appropriate parties to ensure this response has the necessary support. As part of this response, community members will notice an odour in the vicinity of the Suncor dock. Should action be required by the community, further instructions will be issued by your municipality. Further information will be provided as they are available."
Chatham-Kent residents are encouraged to sign up for CKAlert, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent's new emergency alert service at www.CKAlert.ca to receive emergency notifications should they be necessary as this situation evolves.
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Media Contact:
Eric Labadie
Manager, Corporate Communications
Municipality of Chatham-Kent
EricL@chatham-kent.ca
