North Battleford, Prince Albert, Calgary– With 210 of 225 cubic metres of diluted heavy oil now collected, cleanup operations for the July 21 Husky oil spill into the North Saskatchewan River are expected to wrap up within a few weeks, according to Husky spokesperson Mel Duvall.
On Sept. 27, Duvall said, “We’re making very good progress on the cleanup. We’re on target to have everything completed by freeze-up. The exact time frame, I can’t say we’ll be done by October X, but within the next week or two, we expect work to be wrapped up.”
Weather is the determining factor for final completion, he noted.
The majority of the work has always been close to the point of entry, north of Maidstone, where the spill occurred. The spill was caused by a pipeline failure on the south shore of the river, roughly 300 metres from shore. It was near where the pipeline crosses the North Saskatchewan River, but not actually at the river crossing itself. At least half of the spilled oil was contained on land and recovered at the site, before it reached the water, according to Duvall.
Most of that work has been in what Husky has designated “Division 1,” the first roughly 40 kilometres of river.
“Once you got beyond Division 1, it became visibly less noticeable in terms of what was there. As you got further downstream it was the odd spot, here and there. We were able to, using the boats and dogs, find those spots and do the cleanup as we went along. ”
The company used dogs walking along the shoreline to identify areas where oil collected.
“We’ve made very good progress and we’re in the final stages of that work,” he said.
As recently as mid-September, over 500 people were working on the spill response. That number was beginning to wind down towards the end of the month.
On Sept. 16 the Water Security Agency advised North Battleford, Prince Albert and Melfort as well as SaskWater that they may start diverting and treating water from the North Saskatchewan River and Codette Reservoir.
The decision came after approximately 88 per of the oil has been recovered, in addition to conducting significant technical study, monitoring and review. That number has since grown to 93 per cent recovered.
The water safety assessment was reviewed by an internal Government of Saskatchewan science committee, external academic experts from the Universities of Saskatchewan and Alberta, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Health Canada, and engineering consultants for the municipalities.
Advisories related to livestock watering and recreational use are also now lifted. Evaluations and assessments of impacts to aquatic life and other uses (fish and wildlife) are ongoing and separate from this assessment.
As of Sept 23 the Water Security Agency (WSA) had results for 229 surface water quality samples. There was one newly reported exceedance in raw water during the most recent reporting period for any treated drinking water quality standards, guidelines or screening values. Even with one new exceedance of the drinking water guidelines this does not impact the water treatment plants or turning on of the water intakes, the WSA said in a statement.
Duvall said Husky has done over 6,000 water samples. They’ve also done over 1,000 sediment samples. All the results have been shared with the province and affected cities.
Advisories related to livestock watering and recreational use were also lifted. Evaluations and assessments of impacts to aquatic life and other uses (fish and wildlife) are ongoing and separate from this assessment.
The wildlife mortality count is now at 148 (10 birds, 30 waterfowl, 52 small mammals, 41 fish, 13 crustaceans, 2 reptiles).
The WSA reported on Sept. 22, “WSA continues to collect sediment samples (mud, silt and sand) from the river bottom, from eight locations from above the Point of Entry all the way down the river system to #55 Hwy near Nipawin. Up to Sept. 16, 2016 we have received results for a total of 90 sediment samples, 25 more than our last report on Sept. 9, 2016. WSA has found detectable amounts of F3 and/or F4 hydrocarbons in the seven of nine locations monitored.”
“Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon compounds (PAH) were detected in the sediments at eight of nine locations for which results are available, one more location than previously reported for Sept. 9, 2016. No PAH compounds have been detected near the #55 highway bridge near Nipawin. Since the F2, F3 and F4 and PAH compounds tend to attach to organic materials found in the sediments and are essentially non-soluble in water, these are expected to be found in the sediments and less so in water.”
The WSA added, “Since petroleum components such as PAH are attracted to and partition to sediments and organic materials found in river bottom and suspended sediments, it is expected that such materials would be more frequently found in sediments. Of interest various PAH compounds are detected upstream of the spill site. PAH can arise from industrial operations, municipal wastewater effluents and other sources such as forest fires, auto exhaust, etc. Previous historical studies have shown the presence of PAH in upstream reaches of the North Saskatchewan River.”
The report on what caused the spill is being put together and will be filed in later October, within the 90 day reporting deadline, according to Duvall.
Cities to reactivate
water intakes
North Battleford was intending on reactivating its water treatment plant river intake before freeze up caused any difficulties with the temporary water line built from the Town of Battleford to the City of North Battleford to provide additional water for the city, making up for roughly 40 per cent of the normal output of the city’s surface water treatment plant. (North Battlefords operates two water treatment plants – one that draw on well water, and another that draws on surface river water. The well water plant was not affected by the spill).
However, before North Battleford begins taking surface water, a new sand-based pre-filtration system will be installed, according to city manager Jim Puffalt. The system, which is in several truck trailers, will draw water from the river, but from higher in the water column than the existing intake.
That intake is undergoing dredging work now, as it was at risk of being silted up before the spill occurred. One of the concerns with this spill has been heavier oil becoming part of the sediment in the river.
After the raw river water goes through the new pre-filtration system, it will then be fed into the surface water treatment plant for normal processing.
The new system will allow for about 40 per cent of the normal water capacity of the surface water plant, which will be sufficient for winter, according to Puffalt, but not the summer. Therefore, they might use that water line from Battleford again next summer to supplement water supplies.
The new filtration system is being paid for entirely by Husky, Puffalt said. He wouldn’t provide numbers, but explained it would be “in six figures.” Puffalt expects this system to be in place for at least six months.
In Prince Albert, the city is already drawing upon its surface water intake. According to a report from CTV News, the city has added three measures to its water plant to deal with any issues. The first is a real-time monitoring system to detect any possible hydrocarbons in its raw water. The second is greatly expanded usage of powdered activated carbon, using 10 times as much of the PAC is it used to, according to city manager Jim Toye.
The third step is a clarification process which separates and sinks into sediments, CTV reported.
Husky is picking up the tab.
