There’s been another fuel oil spill at the south end of Jackson Creek where it empties into Little Lake in downtown Peterborough.
Video, taken from the footbridge that crosses Jackson Creek between the Holiday Inn and the marina, began circulating on social media on Thursday (March 16), showing an oily sheen in the water of Jackson Creek with containment barriers around it.
City councillor Alex Bierk has provided kawarthaNOW with a message he received Thursday from James Istchenko, environmental services director with the City of Peterborough, after Bierk asked about the situation.
“City staff and contractors identified the spill this morning, notified the regulator, and responded to the site immediately today,” Istchenko wrote. “Clean up will continue through the night, and until resolved. We are working with the Ministry of Environment and will meet again with our environmental consultants tomorrow morning. The permeable reactive barrier has been installed as designed and specified by our environmental specialists; however, we understand that it requires time to work.”
Istchenko said he would provide more information today (Friday) after an update from Cambium, the environmental consultant, and contractors.
Last August, there was another fuel spill discovered in the same location. While that spill was contained, clean-up efforts continued into January. The cause of the August spill remains under investigation by Cambium.
On Friday afternoon, the City of Peterborough issued a media release providing an update on the environmental remediation work.
“The city is working with the Ministry of the Environment to investigate the source of the contamination, which is not known at this time,” the release states. “There are known historical contaminations in the area associated with several properties. Last summer-fall, the city did remediation work on city-owned property identified as potential sources of contamination and installed a reactive barrier in November 2022 to January 2023 through a plan approved by the Ministry of the Environment.”
“With the new contamination coming from an unknown source or sources, the city is working with the Ministry of the Environment on further investigation in the area and considering measures in addition to the immediate cleanup measures that are in place.”
Video by Christina Abbott:
@lalalalachica @alexbierk @JeffLealPtbo
Bit of a mess. Again. pic.twitter.com/qS9sbKWLmW— Bringer of Context (@ItsMe_Context) March 17, 2023
On Monday afternoon, the City of Peterborough issued another media release providing a further update on the environmental remediation work.
“Conditions have greatly improved on Jackson Creek at the outlet to Little Lake after environmental remediation work to contain and cleanup an oil sheen that was discovered on Thursday, March 16, 2023,” the release states. “Monitoring Saturday, March 18 through Monday, March 20 reflected that the remediation efforts have been successful in containing and removing contamination.”
“The source of the contamination has not been determined, but investigation and remediation efforts continue. There is historical contamination in the area. The city is working with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to investigate and to consider additional intermediate and longer-term measures.”
This story has been updated with the latest information from a City of Peterborough media release on March 20, 2023.
