Debate bubbles over oil spill; Firm denies role in incident last fall

The Alberta-based company building one of Canada’s largest wind farms on Wolfe Island is refusing to take responsibility for a diesel spill that occurred during the transport of the turbines to the island last fall.

Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. has launched an appeal through the Environmental Review Tribunal, an independent provincial agency, after failing to comply with a director’s order from the Ministry of the Environment issued as a result of the spill last October.

The tribunal will hear its case sometime in the coming months.

Geoff Carnegie, Canadian Hydro’s development manager, said the company was improperly named in the order.

“Canadian Hydro absolutely feels it was not responsible [for the spill],” he said.

Instead, Canadian Hydro feels one of its contractors, Nadro Marine Services of Port Dover, Ont., was responsible and the order should have been issued to that company.

The spill at the heart of the dispute occurred on Oct. 1 when a tugboat, operated by Nadro Marine, was sitting at the island winter ferry dock near Dawson Point. As much as 700 litres of diesel fuel leaked into the surrounding waters.

Nadro Marine was contracted by Canadian Hydro to haul barges daily from Ogdensburg, N. Y. that were carrying the project’s 86 giant wind turbines.

The ministry ordered Canadian Hydro to take several protective measures — including testing the water supply, providing alternate water for local households and to offer residents a domestic water supply — to ensure that citizens weren’t exposed to any contaminated water.

“[The order] was a tool that the Ministry of the Environment used to make sure that the responsible parties were undertaking the correct activities to make sure that those water supplies remained safe in the impacted area,” said Trevor Dagilis, the ministry’s Kingston district manager.

He declined to comment specifically on the order and which aspects of it weren’t followed because the matter is currently before the Environmental Review Tribunal.

Dagilis did say that “long-term environmental impact is not a concern at this time.”

A preliminary hearing with the tribunal was scheduled to take place at the municipal office of the Township of Frontenac Islands on Tuesday, but it was postponed until Feb. 20.

On the afternoon of the spill, a colourful sheen of diesel fuel covered the water’s surface along the shoreline near the winter dock. The Canadian Coast Guard, the Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada were all called to the scene to help clean up the spill and assess any environmental damage.

As a result of the spill, island residents along a two-kilometre stretch of the St. Lawrence River were advised not to drink the water from their shore wells.

Within hours, Canadian Hydro delivered bottled water to each of the seven homes in the immediate area of the spill.

Nadro Marine hired an environmental firm to test the water from the shore wells, which was deemed to be safe.

In a public statement issued on the day of the spill, Canadian Hydro said an investigation was being conducted to determine the cause, as well as “any changes that should be implemented to help ensure that such events are avoided in the future.”

The Ministry of the Environment followed up with a director’s order that required Canadian Hydro to provide safe drinking and household water to residents in the event that there was damage.

Wolfe Island doesn’t have a municipal water and sewer system and many residents rely on wells located along the shoreline for household water and drinking water.

The upcoming Environmental Re — view Tribunal hearing has attracted the interest of at least one environmental group.

Mark Mattson of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper plans to attend the hearing to understand why Canadian Hydro believes it’s not responsible for the spill.

“It’s a bit of a surprise to me that Canadian Hydro Developers would suggest that they’re not responsible for the spill,” he said.

“Clearly the diesel was being used to operate a necessary part to bring the turbines to Wolfe Island and [the barge company] was ultimately contracted by the Canadian Hydro Developers.”

Mattson also said he would like clarified who is responsible if, in fact, it turns out the ministry wrongly issued the order to Canadian Hydro.

“At the end of the day, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper’s interest in this is the protection of the water and the people who depend on it for drinking water and the wildlife who depend on it for habitat,” he said.

“I guess at this point, we’re not really pointing fingers, but rather, we’re an interested party in ensuring that someone is held accountable and that it doesn’t happen again.”

Mattson said the issue of responsibility and accountability is an important one to make clear in case there are future incidents.

“There is concern about the fact that the company had only been there a few weeks when this spill occurred,” he said.

“The [ministry] needed to spell out the responsibilities and they put it in an order so that there is no confusion as to what the responsibilities are.”

By Jennifer Pritchett
Whig-Standard Environment Reporter

thewhig.com

9 January 2009

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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