City contains minimal spill at Gilkison and VMP

On Tuesday January 28, 2020 the City’s Environmental Services Department was notified by the Spills Action Centre (SAC) regarding reports of a “rainbow sheen” on a creek entering the Grand River near Gilkison and Veterans Memorial Parkway.

City staff immediately attended to the location and installed seven adsorbent booms to capture the material in the sheen which was thought to be a hydrocarbon due to the appearance and fuel-like odour.

City staff have since investigated the upstream catch basins (chamber on roadways that collect storm water) and on Thursday January 30, 2020 determined that the most likely source was a storm sewer running through a private property on Colborne Street. The owner of the property has been contacted and is working closely with City, and Ministry officials, as well as the spill clean-up contractor (iTech), to identify the source and stop any further contamination. 

At this time, the City can also confirm that this incident does not pose a threat to the environment or the public. The occurrence is downstream of the City of Brantford’s drinking water intake, therefore there is absolutely no risk from this event with respect to the City’s drinking water supply.

The City maintains the City of Brantford Water System and is committed to ensuring a high level of trust, commitment and accountability for the public water supply by consistently delivering high quality and safe drinking water to our community. In accordance with the City’s Quality Management Policy, the City’s water supply is tested multiple times on a daily basis and the public can be assured that it remains safe. This is done through a complex water treatment process and continuous testing so that our water supply always meets or exceeds the Safe Drinking Water Act set by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP).

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) Inspector was on site again today to provide an updated assessment and confirmed that the booms in place are containing any further impact to the river.  It is important to note that the City and MECP's assessment is that any leakage into the river prior to containment is minimal. 

City staff will continue to monitor the situation closely.

For more information, please contact the City's Customer Contact Centre at 519-759-4150.