Lake Wabamun Oil Advisory

Lake Wabamun Oil Advisory

EDMONTON SUN

First posted: Friday, May 21, 2010 04:50 PM MDT | Updated: Friday, May 21, 2010 04:56 PM MDT

Lake Wabamun residents and visitors eager to hit the beach for the summer are reminded to look out for lingering oil substances, still present from the 2005 train derailment.

Oil sheens and tar balls that range from small specks to baseball-sized globs could be found on the beach or in the shallow water along the beachfront and can cause rashes or health problems if touched or ingested.

"Most of the oil has been removed and the lake water quality is good so there is no warning against swimming," said Nelson Fok, provincial manager of environmental health.

"But we are asking people to use a common sense approach and avoid areas with tar balls or oil sheens."

Some oil resurfaces every year and the amount is dependant on the currents and the temperatures, Fok added.

Pets and people who do come into contact with oil substances should immediately clean the affected areas with a product suitable for oil removal and later rewash the same areas with soap and water or detergent, he said.

Anyone who swallows the substances or develops unusual rashes should immediately seek medical help. For more information, please call Health Link Alberta at 780-408-LINK or 1-866-408-LINK.

The province has been issuing a warning every year since August 2005, when a CN train derailed due to a defective rail and dumped nearly 800,000 litres of oils and chemicals into Lake Wabamun, about 65 km west of Edmonton.

Hundreds of birds and fish were harmed or killed.

CN agreed to pay $1.4 million in fines related to provincial and federal charges for the spill. The company and their insurers had spent more than $132 million following the spill for cleaning and compensation.

Forum Discussion Post on

Few scars from Wabamun spill

The Edmonton Journal

January 2, 2007;

EDMONTON - Wabamun Lake will suffer no lasting damage as a result of a 2005 CN oil spill, says a new report prepared for the railway.

Testing last year showed whitefish that hatched from eggs exposed to oil residue had five per cent more deformities than normal, but even that damage is expected to eventually disappear.

"Since that time, additional oil residue has been removed from Lake Wabamun, therefore reducing the risk of exposure by the fish eggs," noted the report by Golder Associates Ltd., an environmental consulting company hired by CN.

"Additionally, tests have shown there are no spill-related contaminants present in the flesh of the fish in the lake," said a CN bulletin.

Small aquatic worms living in certain areas in the lake might also have been affected by oil residue, though no impact was detected on the mix and number of species living in those areas, the report said.

Nor is there evidence that remaining oil contamination is any threat to human health, the report says.

The test results compiled by Golder were presented Dec. 14 to agencies overseeing CN's Wabamun Lake cleanup, including Alberta Environment, Capital Health and Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.

A massive cleanup, after a train derailment in August 2005 spilled about 800,000 litres of fuel oil and pole-treating oil, ended in October, when the lake froze, though environmental experts continue to monitor the lake.

CN and government officials will conduct a shoreline assessment this spring to determine if further cleanup is required, said CN spokesman Jim Feeny.

"What we're seeing is pretty much what we expected. The effects of the derailment and spill were severe. We began working to mitigate those effects immediately after the spill, and we've put a tremendous amount of time and resources into that program, so I think the recovery that we're seeing is what we would expect to see, given the level of resource that we've put into it."

Alberta Environment spokesman Kim Hunt said provincial officials are reviewing the findings in the Golder report.

The chairman of the Lake Wabamun Residents Committee said the group will have its own environmental expert review the report.

"Of course, we'll be looking to the experts at Alberta Environment and Capital Health to see if there are health issues here," Doug Goss said. "If you're looking at deformities and things like that, that obviously causes some concern. People say, 'What does this mean?'

"People want to know their lake is safe, whether it's related to the oil spill or other issues."

A variety of aquatic life in the lake has suffered negative effects from toxins not related to CN's oil spill, the Golder environmental report noted.

Capital Health has advised people not to eat fish from the lake.

After the spill, CN offered affected Wabamun residents shares in a $7.5-million compensation package for loss of use of the lake. Nearly all of the eligible 1,500 residents have accepted the compensation.

A proposed class-action suit was dropped in the fall.

"I think, for most people, the hope is that this is behind us," Goss said.

Officials work to re-establish walleye population in Alta. Lakes

Updated: Fri Jul. 16 2010 22:18:05

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Years of overfishing, industry impact, and a major oil spill back in 2005, have all contributed to extremely low numbers of walleye in Lake Wabamun.

Sustainable Resource Development is now working to re-establish the population.

Over the past four days, officials have taken more than 800 walleye from Lake Isle and more than 500 fish from Lac. St. Anne and are releasing them into Lake Wabamun.

"This should be a short term project -- maybe five or six years and then after that the population should be fine on its own," said senior fisheries biologist Stephen Spencer.

A ban has been in place on keeping walleye -- also known as pickerel -- at Lake Wabamun.

A Lake Isle resident says he chose to retire in the area in part because he likes to fish. Harry Gnadt isn't thrilled at the province's plan.

"What I can't understand is why we can't fish pickerel and they can take them from this lake and install them into Wabamun? It don't make sense to me."

Spencer says they are taking less than one per cent of walleye from Lake Isle. He says the idea is to eventually increase population in Lake Wabamun with a spawning program.

"These were the best lakes. They are close so we can move them quickly without having much mortality at all," said Spencer.

Roger Kulhawi has lived in the area his whole life. He says he doesn't mind sharing the walleye as long as it means more fish for everyone.

Next year, walleye eggs from Lac Ste. Anne will be sent to the Cold Lake Fish Hatchery, and a portion of those fry would also be returned to Lac Ste. Anne to increase the walleye population.

With files from Sean Amato

Screenshot from Golder Associates’ Newsletter, discussing the ways they helped monitor oil spill effects.