Water advisory in place after spill

Liquid agricultural fertilizer was accidentally released in Carmangay

Alberta Environment and Parks is investigating a fertilizer spill Wednesday that prompted an ongoing advisory not to drink water from the Little Bow River or the Travers Reservoir.

Approximately 9,800 litres of urea ammonium nitrate, a commonly used liquid agricultural fertilizer solution, was accidentally released from a container on private property northeast of the Village of Carmangay in Vulcan County, according to Alberta Environment spokesperson Jamie Hanlon. The provincial department issued an advisory Thursday telling people who use water from the two sources to close their intake.

“Do not draw on water for drinking, cooking or bathing purposes,” the advisory stated.

Hanlon also said they are also asking people not to boil water because this would be ineffective in removing the ammonium nitrate.

Water tests are ongoing, but previous tests since the spill haven’t indicated there’s any significant risk, Hanlon said.

“However, in an abundance of caution and as we engage in further testing, we’re again just simply asking folks that use those particularly bodies of water to utilize what they have at point or seek other sources until such time that we can determine the water courses are riskfree,” he said.

Kelly Malmberg, director of agriculture for Vulcan County, said Alberta Environment workers got in quickly to clean up the spill and local resources weren’t needed in the response.

“I don’t think it was a huge spill. Environment was called in and they were able to contain it,” Malmberg said. “We don’t have a lot of downstream people. I think it may be one or two houses downstream and really all it was liquid fertilizer, which once hits that water would probably have diluted quite considerably because it is an irrigation river.”

The advisory affects seven groups which draw directly from the two water bodies, including Hutterite colonies, Little Bow Provincial Park, Little Bow Resort and a couple of water co-operatives, Hanlon said, in addition to many farmers and residents in the area.

Farmers Debra and Ladell Smith say the advisory has been an inconvenience.

“That affects us because that’s where our grass is,” Debra said. “We have livestock that drinks on the river right across from where the spill was. We had to move our cattle away from the river to a different pasture.”

Ladell said he’s spoken to the land owner responsible for the spill. The owner noticed a crack in the tank containing the substance that was leaking slowly as he walked by. He told Ladell he immediately phoned the fertilizer company from which he rents the tank.

“While he was on the phone, it basically blew up,” Ladell said. “Then he would have had a major spill all of a sudden.”

There is an investigation ongoing under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, according to Hanlon.