An oil leak discovered on Dodds Lake on Friday morning has been contained and is now being cleaned up.
On April 11 the Town of Innisfail contacted Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development after the 15-metre slick was discovered on the lake and reported to local officials.
“The emergency phase is now over and Innisfail is dealing with the cleanup after reporting the leak to us,” said Sarah Jackson, Alberta Environment spokesperson. “The Town of Innisfail has taken over remediation efforts as of Monday morning.”
Craig Teal, the town's director of planning and operational services, said the town responded quickly to the environmental threat.
“We received the call around 9 a.m. on Friday morning and our fire department were first responders. By noon, the slick had been largely contained,” said Teal, “By Friday night, we had contracted AMEC Consulting for cleanup and monitoring of the spill and also had a second company come in and assist in AMEC's efforts.”
Teal noted Alberta Environment had identified a possible source of the hydrocarbon leak, which seeped into the lake through a culvert, and it was dealing with the incident.
“It appears to have been a 2,000-litre container from a backyard which caused the spill,” added Teal.
He noted cleanup efforts have been assisted by winds blowing the oil back onto the shoreline and warm spring weather has aided the work on-site. Spring melt has not hampered cleanup efforts, said Teal.
“As of this point, we have no cost estimates for the environmental cleanup and no time frames for completion,” he said. “AMEC will remediate the site and the surrounding environment according to Alberta Environment standards.”
Dodds Lake, located in the north end of Innisfail, is a popular recreation area used by the community for boating, canoeing and water-skiing.
