The province is investigating a wastewater spill that happened last week at the Alberta Newsprint Company plant in Whitecourt, Alta., northwest of Edmonton.
Alberta Environment and Protected Areas is conducting the investigation of effluent with the safety and well-being of communities being a top priority, the government said.
Dan Moore, director of technical and environment for Alberta Newsprint Company, said workers were performing equipment maintenance in the effluent treatment system last Friday, when there was an “accidental release of effluent fluid” from one of the ponds to the Athabasca River.
He said normally effluent is treated through the company’s system before it’s discharged into the river via a submerged pipe.
However, due to the equipment failure, the effluent didn’t get processed through the pipe and instead made its way down the road to the river.
They are largely trying to filter out wood sugars from the trees processed at the plant as part of the paper manufacturing process.
There are microorganisms — naturally occurring bacteria and light forms — in the effluent that kill off the sugars, Moore said. The leaked batch of effluent contained more of those microorganisms.
Moore estimates less than 500 litres — about five bathtubs’ worth — of unprocessed effluent made it into the river. During regular operation, the company releases 13 million litres of treated effluent into the river every day, he said.
He said the company has never had a spill like this before and it has the highest paper mill effluent in Canada.
The paper mill has brought in vacuum trucks to remove wastewater along the spill route as well as soaked gravel, vegetation and solids, according to the province.
The spill material will be tested both on and off-site by a consultant hired by the newsprint company.
They will also test a sample from the Athabasca River, both upstream and downstream of the spill location.
Alberta Environment said drinking water sources are being closely monitored and there are currently no communities impacted. The company said aquatic life should not be affected.