'We're just trying to be proactive': Kensington mayor says fuel tank too close to water supply

The Town of Kensington wants the province to move an oil tank it says is too close to the town's water supply. The tank contains diesel fuel that school buses use to fill up.

The tank is on the Kensington Intermediate Senior High School property, about 150 metres away from the well field,said Mayor Rowan Caseley

"It's uphill from there as well, so that's our concern, that should there be a leak, then if it's not noticed right away immediately, then it's not long before it could contaminate our wellfield."

Caseley said he wants to avoid that happening.

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In February 2016, Caseley sent a letter to the minister of transportation, infrastructure and energy, expressing concern about the outdoor tank and an indoor one used to store furnace oil at KISH.Since then,improvements were made to those tanks.

The heating fuel tank was replaced in the summer 2016 with a new double-wall steel tank. It was relocated outdoors, above ground, in a fenced-in area.

In addition, barriers were put uparound the diesel tank used by the buses, but unlike the heating fuel tank, it is not fenced in. Caseley said the town is still concerned and wants more done.

"There's a couple of barriers and a couple of steel posts," he said. "If you lost control you could drive a bus right into it and hit it."

Kensington's chief administrative officer has suggested to council that itsenda joint letter with the Kensington North Watersheds Association to the province's education department outlining what they want done. The suggestions are to install additional protection around the diesel tank, relocating the tank to another area, or removing the tank and having school buses fuel up at a local gas station.

The preference, according to Caseley, is to move it away from the current location.

"We're just trying to be proactive,"he said.

"We recognize and acknowledge that they haven't ignored our requests in the past. We're just asking for more attention. We're just not sure what's been done is sufficient and we're asking them to take another look at it and make more improvements."

Province open to working together

In an emailthe education departmentreiterated that it hasbeen working with the Town of Kensington on the oil tanks for the past number of years.

"The [Public Schools Branch] replaced the oil tanks at both Queen Elizabeth Elementary and KISH at a cost of more than $100,000. Tanks are inspected regularly and Jersey barriers have been placed around them to protect them," the email said. A Jersey barrier, in this case, is a concrete barrier.

"The Public Schools Branch is open to working with the Town as they have in the past."

Council still has to vote on whether itwill send the letter but Caseley said at the last Committee of Council meeting, it was unanimous that this was a concern.

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