Toxic Spill In B.C. & Oil Slicks In Alberta

B.C. story continued... "It's harmful to aquatic life and certainly with the corrosiveness, there's concern for any immediate contact in the area with the material," said emergency response officer Harold Riedler. Riedler said the ministry has issued a warning through the RCMP for people to avoid activities in or along the Cheakamus, which flows into the Squamish River and then into Howe Sound. The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority issued a warning on Friday warning people not touch or drink the water and not to handle or eat any fish from it. It also said water wells in the vicinity should not be used until further notice and people should see a doctor if they suffer skin irritation after touching the water. "We're ensuring public safety," said Riedler. "We're doing everything we can to ensure the public is aware of this incident. We're encouraging no activity within 100 metres of both sides of the river." © The Canadian Press, 2005 http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=news_home&articleID=1998891 Alberta Mess Continued.... About 100 protesters stood or sat on the tracks for four hours on Friday in the village of Wabamun, a resort community about 65 kilometres west of Edmonton. They were angry after CN officials failed to show up at a town meeting Friday. Two days earlier, 15 tanker train cars filled with bunker fuel spilled as many as 1.3 million litres onto the ground and into the water of Wabamun Lake. The protesters had accused the company of being more concerned about reopening the line than cleaning up the bunker fuel oil. The blockade was called off after the two sides met later in the afternoon and agreed there had been a communications breakdown. CN promised to provide the province with a daily update on the cleanup of the slick, which has stretched as far as eight kilometres across the lake, fouled birds and grasses and filled the air with a pungent odour. Residents were also reassured because Alberta Environment issued an order Friday to force Canadian National to quickly clean up the spill, which now spreads eight kilometres across the lake. - 'It was like falling into a barrel of oily peanut butter' - Doug Goff, who lives in Wabamun and helped organize the blockade, said he believed the order would have teeth to ensure the lake was cleaned up promptly. "It was like falling into a barrel of oily peanut butter," said protester Bob Legate after wading into the water. "Absolutely nobody I have seen over the last two days has been trying to do anything about the environmental problem. It appears they're really not that concerned about the environmental damage going on here and that will go on here." CN officials said they had stopped the oil from leaking into the water by the afternoon of the derailment, but resident Bill VanRassel disputed that claim Friday. "People say it's contained. It isn't. I've got graphic pictures showing it still leaking into the lake yesterday," said VanRassel, who organized people to block the tracks. "It's terrible, what they've done." He said CN lost no time bringing in "immense equipment" to repair the tracks, where a total of 43 train cars derailed. - Gathering equipment takes time: CN - Read More: http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=news_home&articleID=1998978 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 7, 2005]

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