What's the Source of the Mysterious Petroleum Spill in Grand River, Canada?

Famous for its towering mountains, stunning lakes and native wildlife, Canada is a mecca for nature lovers. Yet in the wake of a mysterious petroleum spill, Kitchener’s Grand River has environmentalists seriously concerned.

On April 29 residents noticed a “petroleum-like substance” settling on the surface of the Grand River. The City of Kitchener took immediate action to investigate, meeting with the Ministry of the Environment and the Region of Waterloo to come up with a management and clean-up plan.

Local leaks

So what caused the oil sheen? After running a series of tests the Ministry of Environment confirmed that the spilled substance was used motor oil seeping from an 800-litre tank. Local business Code Yellow Towing is currently being investigated as the source of the spill, with a provincial investigation underway. Should the company be found guilty it will face substantial fines from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. In a bid to minimise the costs to taxpayers the ministry will be tracking, recording and passing down as many expenses as possible to the offender.

Native species under threat

While the spill was a relatively small scale event, the impact on local ecosystems is immense. Mark Servos, the Canada Research Chair for Water Quality Protection at the University of Waterloo has been studying the effects of small chemical spills on native rainbow darter fish, and maintains that even minor slicks can have widespread impact.

"All of these small spills are very important," he said. "All of these things accumulate together. Every time somebody spills a small amount of something, it all ends up in the environment and much of it ends up in the river."

An oily reminder

While the spill did cause provincial alarm, Servos maintains that it did come with a silver lining. He asserts that it serves as a good reminder not to dispose of anything but H2O down storm drains, and raises awareness for the importance of environmental conservation.

"The storm water [system], it's designed to capture some of the particles and things – some of the metals – but it's not designed to capture people pouring a can of oil or a can of paint," he said. "We need to be aware that our actions and our decisions every day make a huge difference on the quality of that river. It's not just the industry. It's us as well."

As well as spills, the oil and gas industry is also under fire for emitting other toxic substances. For more information on a keynote concern, ‘Unconsidered Mercury Emissions from the Oil and Gas Industry’ offers the lowdown issues surrounding the chemical element.