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Water Security Agency keeping close eye on North Saskatchewan River

Mar 10, 2017 | 1:00 PM

Water sampling continues following an oil spill on the North Saskatchewan River last July.

Patrick Boyle from the Water Security Agency said recent tests monitoring the water quality have come up clean.

“We just posted results from the latest round we did and we haven’t seen any exceedances of the Canadian drinking water guidelines,” he said.

Regardless, Boyle said the agency will do its due dilligence and watch water quality, particularly during the spring thaw when the ice breaks up and the water starts to flow again. 

“The concern is whether we’ll see particles start moving. The petroleum hydrocarbons that settled into the riverbed could get disturbed as the ice starts stirring things up,” Boyle explained.

Roughly 93 per cent of the crude oil thought spilled onto the banks of the North Saskatchewan River was recovered before the winter freeze. Husky Energy spent $107-million dollars responding to the spill, which it said was caused by shifting ground.

A report on the oil-spill from the Ministry of Energy and Resources is expected to be released sometime this month.

 

teena.monteleone@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TeenaMonteleone