Alberta company ordered to clean up spill

The company whose fertilizer storage tank ruptured, leaking 9,800 litres of urea ammonium nitrate into the Little Bow River, has been ordered to clean up the spill by the provincial government.

Though authorities determined the July 15 spill didn’t present a human or animal health risk, over 100 dead fish were found downstream of the release site northeast of Carmangay in the days that followed, according to the environmental protection order released Thursday.

“The levels that are there are in an acceptable range that doesn’t have any adverse affects on either people or agriculture,” said Alberta Environment and Parks spokesman Jamie Hanlon, noting that the threshold for aquatic life is different.

“Our concern here is the product that’s remaining, the contamination that remains in the soil near the release site, needs to be cleaned up. It needs to be cleaned up in a very timely and appropriate manner.”

The agriculture company, 1370996 Alberta Ltd., had kept the tank that leaked about 15- 20 metres away from the Little Bow. An unknown quantity of the fertilizer is now in the river, and in nearby soil and rock.

The day after the spill, the company’s insurer hired a contractor to mitigate the effects.

The contractor dug a trench and holes to catch any liquids, and installed hay bales and a silt fence on the river bank. Then, they used a vacuum truck to collect any fertilizer recovered. However, samples collected July 18 still showed ammonia concentrations well above limits set to protect aquatic life.

Though ammonia levels have since fallen, they’re still not beneath the threshold. Now, 1370996 Alberta Ltd. must to decontaminate the area and assess the fertilizer’s effect on marine life and soil, and submit its plans to do so by Friday.

Hanlon says there’s very little risk the fertilizer will contaminate other properties.

“Given the fact that its in the river and its moving down, there’s little opportunity for this to be leaching onto lands further down,” he said.

Calls to the company were not immediately returned.