and just like that.......
http://www.timescolonist.com/Home+spill+kills+salmon+pollutes+Saanich+waterways/5769491/story.html
article for those over the TC limit....lol
Up to 1,000 litres of heating oil has spilled from a homeowner's fuel tank and into Swan Creek and Colquitz River, killing migrating coho salmon and polluting part of the Saanich waterways.
The spill started gradually but quickly grew as it got into the storm sewers.People walking in Colquitz Park smelled the fuel near the river and contacted authorities, said Adriane Pollard, environmental services manager for Saanich.
The spill is being investigated by Saanich public works crews and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.Booms have been set up to contain the spill, Pollard said.
While no dead fish have been found at the spill site, some carcasses have turned up downstream, she said.The tank is above ground but the buried pipe bringing fuel to the home became damaged and drained the contents of the newly filled tank, said Mike Ippen, public services manager for Saanich.
The break in the pipe probably happened Tuesday because that's when people started to smell fuel in Cuthbert Holmes Park, Ippen said.The fuel seeped from the home, located in the Carey Road area, through the storm sewer system and heavy rain pushed the fuel down the storm sewer system and into the creeks.People often wait until fall to fill up their fuel tanks and damage isn't apparent until fuel has already leaked into the environment, said Ippen.
Public works crews have put booms in Swan Creek and in the storm sewer itself, said Ippen.It's unclear how far the fuel travelled, said Ippen. "What's in the storm sewer has been contained," he said. "We have no idea what those volumes are because the homeowner doesn't know how much came out of that tank — it's almost impossible to tell.The homeowner is on the hook for costs of the cleanup, he said."We recover our costs from the homeowner, or we try to. That's the first step, and the homeowner has been very cooperative."Crews will monitor the waterways this weekend."We're also expecting heavy rains this weekend and we'll be making sure the booms stay in place and we keep changing them out," said Ippen.
Residential heating oil storage tanks have been used in Canada for more than 60 years, says a B.C. government fact sheet. Many of these tanks are now abandoned as homeowners move to natural gas, propane and electricity to heat their homes.Underground storage tanks pose risks of contamination to soil and groundwater. Unused oil storage tanks should be properly decommissioned by a qualified contractor, says the fact sheet.
