City will be on the hook for oil spill cleanup from the province

Kawartha Lakes finds itself in a difficult situation regarding the ongoing oil spill cleanup going on in Thurstonia Park near Dunsford. On one hand, local citizens assume that this environmental crisis falls under the jurisdiction of the city which it does not, and because of this many affected residents are feeling abandoned by most city officials who are leaving the commenting and press conferences to the province.

But if and when the cleanup is completed, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks will be sending the bill to the city, which has not budgeted funds to cover this kind of incident and which could cost a significant amount of money, depending upon how quickly the source of the pollutant can be found and the fuel oil cleaned up.

When contacted initially by The Advocate on April 14 for information about the spill, the city made it crystal clear that they have fulfilled their initial responsibilities and now it is a provincial matter. Cheri Davidson, manager of communications, advertising and marketing for the city made this clear.

“The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is responsible for overseeing public spills,” Davidson said. “For information related to the spill please contact the MECP at 705-755-4300. There are no municipal drinking water systems in the area. The health unit is responsible for water quality concerns for those residents. They have been issued an appropriate notice, but if there are questions or concerns, they need to speak to the health unit.”

Davidson further explained that the city proactively did initial cleanup spearheaded by the Kawartha Lakes Fire Service, and any updates on the spill will come from the MECP and water quality from the health unit. Once either of the mentioned parties has issued an update, the city will re-share it on their website.

While it is clear that the city’s role in the ongoing cleanup is done, Ward Six councillor Ron Ashmore, in an exchange of emails over the weekend, said the city will most certainly have significant financial responsibilities when the cleanup is done.

Ashmore, the ward representative for Thurstonia Park, has been on the ground “helping the people in some way or the other since (the spill has occurred).”

When asked about the frustration of Thurstonia Park residents, Ashmore said he understood their concerns.

“I sense that frustration. It is shared by Mayor Doug Elmslie and director of public works for Kawartha Lakes Bryan Robinson. Basically, we are told (by the province) to pay for this (cleanup) but then we don’t have any control as it’s the MECP and the health unit in charge.”

The cost of the cleanup that began in early April is beginning to become worrying for the city, which will be presented the bill by the province once they declare the oil gone.

“Unfortunately, the city and our taxpayers are the ones who will have to pay for this, as it is a totally unplanned expense and we will have to figure out how to pay for it, but we don’t know right now the cost,” Ashmore said.

As the cleanup stretches into a third week with no end in sight, Ashmore says that his immediate concern is for some of the park residents who draw directly from the lake and have been without access to any water since April 3.

“The immediate concern before money is the health of our citizens,” Ashmore said, considering some use the lake for washing and cleaning, too.

“I asked for at least a skid of water for the people but was turned down. I thought this would have been a good gesture that we care (about the residents of Thurstonia Park).”

Ashmore hopes when everything gets back to normal that something can be learned from how communications have not been handled during this spill and it’s ensuing cleanup.

“We seriously need to have a talk and soon with all levels of government on how to handle a spill and an incident like this again,” Ashmore said.