http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/oil-spill-in-southwestern-manitoba-297487981.html
Oil spill in southwestern Manitoba
By: Charles Tweed
Posted: 03/25/2015 3:00 AM
Local
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Oil spill in southwestern Manitoba
By: Charles Tweed
Posted: 03/25/2015 3:00 AM | Comments: 1
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BRANDON -- About 30,000 litres of crude oil hit the ground Monday after
surface equipment malfunctioned near the village of Cromer in
southwestern Manitoba, according to oil company Corex Resources.
Rob Crawford, environment health and safety manager at Corex, said crews
are on-site working through tough conditions to ensure the oil is contained.
"Response operations were as quick as the leak was discovered,"àCrawford
said Tuesday. "There was a small trickle going down the lease road that
pooled in a low area, but that's being scraped up at this point and all
impacted soils have been transferred to a storage cell on-site so we can
access it."
Crawford said contaminated soil is being stored on location until it can
be shipped to a landfill. The fact the spill occurred on the lease is
helping the cleanup, as much of the area is covered by an impermeable clay.
While the exact cause of the spill won't be known until a full
investigation is performed, Crawford said it appears an O-ring near the
separator -- which splits the oil and water into two streams -- was
pinched, causing a leak.
"We strive to have no fluid hit the ground, but it does happen in
operational situations like this," Crawford said. "The primary concern
is to contain any type of impact so it mitigates any remediation that
we're going have to put in place."
Harv Jacobsen, superintendent with Corex, said the part that sprung a
leak was replaced last week.
"The guys were there the day before and it wasn't spraying, so it
happened at some time through the night,"àsaid Jacobsen, who estimates
the operating pressure on the line to be approximately 80 pounds per
square inch.
No environmentally sensitive areas were identified in the spill area,
according to a provincial spokesman.
"The spill fluids were quickly contained, fluid removal is being
conducted by use of a vacuum truck and removal is nearly completed,"àthe
spokesman said Tuesday.
"A clay containment cell has been constructed to temporarily hold
contaminated solids, which will be removed to a licensed waste
facility... The site will be entered into the Manitoba Rehabilitation
program, creating a responsibility for the company to fully rehabilitate
the site."
It's the second industry spill in southwestern Manitoba in the last two
months after an emulsion line break was discovered near Waskada on Feb.
5 by an aerial surveillance plane hired by Tundra Oil and Gas.
That spill dumped a large quantity of saltwater and bitumen into the
soil, affecting 2.5 acres of farmland.
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