The city is using its reserve water supply, which is expected to last for the week. The wells are fed from ground water and not surface water.
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Wes Kotyk with Saskatchewan’s environmental protection branch said officials don’t know how long that could take, since the plume of the spill has broken up and slicks can get hung up on bends and take time to move along the river. Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. said this week it will spend $172 million paying fines and boosting safety across its pipeline operations in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department connected to its 2010 oil spill near Marshall, Michigan, that released 20,000 barrels into the Kalamazoo River.
The crude oil and other material leaked into the river on Thursday upstream from a breach in Husky Energy’s pipeline near Maidstone, Sask.
“We will build on whatever we learn from our investigations”, Peabody said, adding that it will take weeks to identify the exact cause of the incident. “We accept full responsibility for the event and for the cleanup and we will make things right”. Fingas said that oil would collect on shorelines especially on curves coating grasses and aquatic plants.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations is demanding representation at the command centre handling the spill.
Prince Albert, a city of about 35,000 people a considerable ways down from the spill is already planning to treat storm pond water as a backup as the oil lead advances towards it. Sam Ferris with the Saskatchewan water security agency said that most of Prince Albert’s water came from the river.
Workers there raced to extend a 30-kilometre (19-mile) hose pipe to draw drinking water from another source.
Despite the severity of the spill, and its widespread effects on people living downstream, the premier of Saskatchewan defended pipelines as the safest way to move oil over land, reported The Canadian Press wire service.
The city of Prince Albert, Sask., opened their Emergency Operations Centre on Saturday after a pipeline break.
Jeff Da Silva, manager of public works with the city, said consultants have been hired to test the water in the river and the water coming out of the water treatment plant to see if any hydrocarbons are present.
“We need a deterrent”.
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We urge our residents to help us conserve water wherever they can!
