Clean-up complete following chemical spill in Leduc

LEDUC -- The City of Leduc has completed clean-up operations following the recent chemical spill near Telford Lake.

The spill was first detected on June 4th by a surveyor near the 46th Avenue Culvert, which prompted immediate containment measures from the City in collaboration with Alberta Environment. This included the deployment of spill response booms and oil sorbent pads in order to mitigate environmental impacts, and to prevent the spill from entering the lake.

Leduc Environment Manager Michael Hancharyk says crews weren't able to determine the cause of the spill. 

"We weren’t able to determine what the source of the spill was," said Hancharyk. "The good news is the spill didn't grow after it was identified, which means it wasn't a continuing source."

Hancharyk assumes that the spill came from some sort of vehicle due to it being identified as a type of hydrocarbon. 

"Assumedly it was from a car, perhaps, we don't know that," said Hancharyk. "We just encourage residents if they're ever dealing with any type of gas or hazardous material, or toxic substance, to dispose of it properly, and not to dispose of it into any water or sewer system."

Clean-up of the spill was fully completed as of June 16th, and all of the response booms and other equipment were removed from the area. It's noted that while it came close, no chemicals entered Telford Lake as a result of the incident. 

"Thankfully because we set booms -- one by the culvert and one by the footbridge -- the spill never went beyond the footbridge, and never went into the lake," said Hancharyk. 

According to the City of Leduc, environmental monitoring will continue over the next several days as a precaution, and to confirm there are no further impacts.