Oil spill on Sudbury's Ramsey Lake doesn't pose risk to drinking water, says health unit

An oil spill that started at a home along Ramsey Lakein Sudbury, Ont., has since reached the shoreline, said Public Health Sudbury and Districts.

The health unit said in a newsrelease thatthe spill Jan. 14 started from the fuel oil tankof a home on Gennings Streetnear the lake.

Public health said it immediately alerted the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, as well as people who lived nearby.

While Ramsey Lake is the city's main source of drinking water, the health unit said the risk to the public from the spill remains low.

"However, fuel oil floats, and it can move under the ice and potentially affect private drinking water intakes,"Burgess Hawkins, a manager of the health unit's health protection division, said in a news release.

"We are advising residents who draw their drinking water directly from Ramsey Lake via a private drinking water intake to monitor their water. Contaminated water may have a petroleum odour and a glass of water may have an oily sheen on top."

The health unit added the spill is not located near the city's water treatment plant on David Street.

The City of Greater Sudburyis reportedly aware of the situation and monitoring it.