The chief administrative officer of a Métis settlement in northwestern Alberta says water is slowly receding, but an emergency alert is still in place after heavy flooding in the area five days ago. Justin Gaudet of the Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement says damages are being assessed after rain and snowmelt raised water levels on nearby rivers to heights residents have not seen before. Gaudet says the excessive moisture, combined with contaminated water, has a high potential to cause mould and unlivable conditions on the settlement.
Potential damage is being downplayed in latest Alberta oil pipeline leak
Less than two months after a spill at an oil pipeline dumped 900,000 litres of contaminated water–so called “produced water”–in northwestern Alberta, there’s been another spill in the oil-rich province. The latest spill, reported at 2 p.m on Christmas Day by a local landowner, occurred near Drayton Valley, a community about 130 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, the province’s capital city. Drayton Valley was the site of a spill–the result of a ruptured pipeline–that dumped 40,000 litres of crude oil into a local creek in August, 2019.
Husky pipeline spills 900,000 litres of produced water in northwestern Alberta
Husky Energy says 900,000 litres of produced water spilled from one of its pipelines in northwestern Alberta. Produced water is a byproduct of oil and gas extraction and sometimes contains residual petroleum and chemicals. Spokesperson Dawn Delaney says the spill is contained and the company is continuing to clean it up with pumps and vacuum trucks. She said there has been no observed harm to wildlife and fencing has been put up to keep animals away.