No human health risk from diesel spill into river: officials

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency said there is no risk to human health as it continues to monitor a spill of 800 litres of diesel into the South Saskatchewan River near Medicine Hat, Alta.

The spill occurred from a Canadian Pacific Kansas City engine in the railyard east of the city April 30. While that is downstream of Medicine Hat’s water system intake, the river supplies water to several communities in Saskatchewan. Other Alberta communities near the river use wells for their drinking water.

Read Also

Farms face flooding in northeastern Saskatchewan

Flooding in northeastern Saskatchewan could cause seeding delays and adjustments if there is any more moisture in May.

WSA spokesperson Leah Clark told reporters May 4 the province was made aware of the spill around 11 p.m., when Alberta Environment and Protected Areas reported it to the provincial spill line and began investigating.

“Given the quantity of the spill and the volumes in the river, it was determined to be no risk to human health by the time it would get to the Saskatchewan border. However, in an abundance of caution, we notified communities and RMs along the river system proactively so they could make their own informed decisions on how to manage their systems and intakes,” Clark said.

The town of Leader stopped taking water from the river and was operating on reserves.

Clark said depending on the flow, water from Medicine Hat can reach Lake Diefenbaker, which supplies water to numerous places including Saskatoon, within four to eight days.

---

Breaking ag news stories and commodities markets snapshots delivered daily right to your inbox!