RCMP in central Alberta asked drivers to avoid “a large stretch of highway due to a spill of oilfield material” on Thursday night, but the disruption carried on into the next day.
In an update on Friday morning, police said that crews with the road maintenance service company Emcon Alberta were arranging cleanup efforts and that the stretches of highway would likely be closed for most of the day.
On Thursday night, police said tow trucks were assisting crews that were trying to clear the affected roads.
In a news release issued by the Thorsby RCMP detachment just after 10:30 p.m., police said officers from various Mountie detachments were “working to divert traffic on approximately 38 kilometres of affected highway.”
They said the highways affected by the spill were Highway 20 between Township Road 470 and Highway 39, as well as Highway 39 from Highway 20 to Highway 770.
Police did not say what caused the spill to happen or exactly what kind of substance spilled. In an update provided at about 10 a.m., police noted the substance is “non-toxic.”
“(There have) been reports of damage as a result of attempting to drive through it,” police said of the spilled substance.
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In a post on the Village of Breton’s Facebook page Thursday night, officials advised that “both entrances to the north of the village are closed until further notice to allow crews to work … on Highway 20.”
“These are the entrances by the Esso and by the water tower,” officials said.
“Please use Highway 616 to leave or enter the village.”
Late Friday morning, village officials posted an update on social media and confirmed the two north entrances to the village remain closed, Highway 20 remains closed from Alsike to Winfield.
They added that the intersection at Highway 616 and Highway 20 will be remaining open for eastbound and westbound traffic only.
“The material that has been spilled can’t not get into the village sewer system,” officials said. “Village public works are working to close off drains on the road so that with the warmer weather this weekend the substance doesn’t drain into those drains.
“Also they will be monitored all weekend to ensure no flooding takes place and (to) deal with any that may start to develop.”
Village officials said public works will also be doing snow removal as well as maintenance on roads to help ensure that “any of the substance in the snow doesn’t make it to the drains.”
The village is planning to set up a “wash station” at the Breton waste transfer site inside the village.
“There will be water trucks, vac trucks on site to deal with the cleaning of vehicles of all sizes that were exposed to the spill,” officials said. “The vehicles will pull onto a containment mat to keep the waste water from the cleaning off of the ground.”
The village said it has yet to pinpoint exactly when the wash station would be operational.
Anyone whose vehicle was damaged as a result of the spill is asked to call the Breton RCMP detachment during regular business hours.
Global News reached out to the office of Environment and Protected Areas of Alberta Minister Rebecca Schulz for comment on the situation.
In an email, the minister’s press secretary Ryan Fournier said the ministry is “working with local officials and others to clean the spill and open the highways as soon as possible.”
“Alberta Environment and Protected Areas and others have responded and is working to support the clean-up,” he said.
“At this time, no significant environmental impacts have been identified.”
Shayne Blosky spoke to Global News about the situation on Friday afternoon. He lives on an acreage in the affected area, south of Alsike, Alta.
He said he was essentially trapped because he could not really use his driveway as a result of the spill.
“It doesn’t look so bad, but there’s small globs of it everywhere,” Blosky said, adding he drove his truck on the highway Thursday night, using the lane that “didn’t actually have the spill in it. “But … little pieces of it had been thrown over, and you could tell right away it kind of sounded like I was driving on gravel.
“(It) looks like water, but … there’s big globs of it all over the highway on both sides … Even if we could leave, I probably wouldn’t.
“We got it stuck all over our truck right now. We actually just spent the last three hours scraping our driveway.”
Blosky said he and others in the community feel “kind of in the dark,” although he said he was appreciative of the Village of Breton posting updates on social media.
“My truck … we were just looking at it right now … the truck’s not looking so great right now,” he said.
Blosky said it appears to him that the substance that spilled “eats rubber.”
“Because it’s getting warm, it’s starting to kind of melt everywhere. It was pretty gross to clean up.”
Blosky added that he was planning to use his truck to do some contract work this weekend but he is not certain that will be possible.
“I think long term, I’m going to be slightly concerned about our tires for sure,” he said. “I can’t really afford six brand new tires for my truck.”
Blosky said his son could not go to school on Friday because of the spill. He also expressed concern for his animals.
“We have cattle. We have dogs,” he said. “That was kind of our biggest concern when we did start cleaning up this morning, was that we needed to get this off of the driveway in case the dogs do get it on their paws.
“I know they said it isn’t hazardous, but it sure doesn’t look pretty, so I’d rather not have anything on my animals.”
An RCMP spokesperson told Global News on Friday afternoon that the driver of the vehicle involved in the spill will be facing charges under the Traffic Safety Act as well as under the Commercial Vehicle Safety Regulation.
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