The majority of Gleniffer Lake was reopened on Thursday, just in time for those wanting to test its waters over the Canada Day weekend.
But this doesn’t sit well with Wayne and Ila Johnston, who say officials have just begun cleaning up their farmland that has tributaries on it running into the Red Deer River. Their land is near one of the spill sites on Township Road 331A and Township Road 340. The Johnstons say there is still a chance that oil could make its way to the lake, despite reassurances made by Alberta Environment and Plains Midstream Canada that the majority of hydrocarbons have been contained and removed.
“If it rains, it could wash the hydrocarbons back down there,” Ila said.
“They should wait until they have this all cleaned up. There are areas they haven’t even touched.”
On June 7, up to 3,000 barrels (475,000 litres) of light sour crude oil was released into the Red Deer River from a ruptured Plains Midstream Canada pipeline about one km north of Sundre. The oil from the spill made its way to Gleniffer Lake — a popular recreational area southwest of Red Deer.
The lake was reopened on Thursday for boating and swimming following “successful cleanup efforts,” an Alberta Environment news release stated.
“There is a containment boom so nothing is going into Gleniffer Lake,” said Alberta Environment spokesperson Jessica Potter.
“Our results show that the lake is within Alberta drinking water standards and standards for the protection of aquatic life,” she said.
Potter said there were final shoreline walks on Tuesday and Wednesday with no detection of hydrocarbons. She said there have be water monitoring tests twice daily at 25 sites in and around the area.
The far southwest corner of the lake near Dickson Point will remain closed to the public, along with the Cottonwood day-use area. Shoreline fishing is allowed at Dickson Trout Pond but boats are not allowed.
Plains Midstream Canada directed media questions regarding the reopening of Gleniffer Lake to Alberta Environment’s website.
“Water quality monitoring will continue through the weekend and following weeks to ensure hydrocarbon levels remain low,” the company briefly responded over email.