By Pete McIntyre

Water advisories lifted in the North Okanagan

May 19, 2017 | 2:20 PM

ENDERBY, B.C. — Government officials have confirmed no gas or diesel made it into the Shuswap River as a result of a fuel spill this week east of Enderby.

An Armstrong Regional Co-Op truck crashed on Mabel Lake Road Tuesday, spilling over 12-thousand litres of gas and diesel into a flooded field next to the river.

“Ministry of Environment and environmental consultants on scene informed Interior Health that no fuel has reached the river, and products (diesel and gasoline) that spilled have been captured and contained within the protective booms put in place following the accident,” states a release from Interior Health. “Based on this assessment, Interior Health is confident that there is no longer a potential risk to water users downstream.”

A precautionary water advisory for people downstream of Ashton Creek has been lifted.

Co-op G-M Jeff Payne says work at the site continues.

Boogie The Bridge

Boogie The Bridge Event Information

Apr 19, 2024

The Tattle of Hastings

THE TATTLE OF HASTINGS: Goodbye, Toledo

15m ago

Question of the Week

Is 'Canada's Tournament Capital' an accurate description of Kamloops?

Apr 22, 2024

“Nothing has made it to the water. We can’t guarantee nothing will ever, but we have a plan in place, and we’ve hired a lot of good environmental experts to help us out in this,” Payne tells CFJC affilate Kiss FM.

Payne says the company’s insurance will cover the cost of the response and remediation, which he estimates will be over one million dollars.

“We think we will be out of the emergency stage by either today or maybe over the weekend, and then we can go to the remediation stage which is the longer term monitoring and clean-up.”

Payne says the crash was an accident, but the company has learned from it.

“Until we stop using petro chemicals in our lives, accidents will happen. But the changes we’re making will ensure we have all the phone numbers we need to call, and making sure that we know exactly what’s on the truck when they leave here, that sort of thing,” adds Payne.

Interior Health has also lifted the precautionary water quality advisory for the western arm of Shuswap Lake.

A tug boat sank near Cape Horn on Shuswap Lake Monday, where a small amount of diesel fuel leaked and was contained.

Interior Health says there is no longer a potential risk to water users in that area.