THUNDER BAY — Soil contaminated by crude oil spilled from a derailed train near Emo, Ontario last month is being trucked to a Thunder Bay-area waste disposal site.
An undisclosed quantity is being dumped at a government-approved industrial disposal facility off Kam-Current Road in Lappe.
Jack Milne, whose company operates the site, says the shipments started arriving last week, but he's not sure how many truckloads to expect.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation & Parks says a total of 10,000 to 17,000 cubic metres of soil will be retrieved from the derailment.
However, Lisa Brygidyr said some of the contaminated material is being taken to Manitoba for disposal.
Twenty-six tank cars containing crude oil left the CN track near Emo on Feb. 18.
Several of the cars sprung leaks, but officials said none of the oil got into any watercourses.
Brygidyr told Tbnewswatch the Lappe facility is approved to accept solid, non-hazardous waste from industrial and commercial sources.
"What they're accepting is actually the crude oil mixed with sawdust or clean aggregate soil," she said.
Brygidyr explained that spilled oil is often cleaned up by mixing it with something that makes it easier to vacuum or shovel.
According to Milne, arrangements for the transfer to the Lappe site were made through a consulting engineering firm.
A representative of CN rail who was contacted on Monday was not immediately able to provide more details about the disposal plan.
However, Jonathan Abecassis said CN uses locations "that are capable of receiving product and are appropriately licensed."
