The Town of Peace River and the province are keeping a close eye on a mudslide near Peace River.
Mayor Tom Tarpey said the town was alerted by Alberta Environment and Parks about the slide on Wednesday afternoon.
AEP was doing a flyover of the area, he said, when they discovered that part of the Heart River bank had slumped into the river.
There is no word on how large the slide is.
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“The Peace River Valley and these mudslides, landslides are relatively common in wet weather,” he said.
Tarpey said residents do not need to be concerned about the slide, adding no residents live near the slide and there is little human traffic.
There was initially concern that the slide would create a dam in the river and potentially lead to flooding in the mouth of the river where the town sits.
“If it was blocked and there was a large build-up behind it, it would be a mud wall giving way. You would get a large surge in water,” he said.
However, Tarpey said the water seems to have cut its own channel through the mud and the river is flowing evenly.
The town and AEP are currently monitoring the situation but Tarpey said they may ultimately leave it up to Mother Nature.
“If Mother Nature cuts a channel through there and it isn’t posing any other risk, we will leave it as is.”
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