Concerns linger 1 year after Etobicoke chemical spill

SomeEtobicokeresidents say they are still searching for answers more thana year after runoff from a majorindustrial fire polluted twocreeks in the west Toronto suburb, devastating wildlife in the area.

The sludgy runoff from the blaze at Brenntag Canada a chemical distribution company in north Etobicoke flowed into Mimico Creek and Humber Creek. It was followed byreportsof deadfish, birds and mammals, while dozens of surviving waterfowl needed to be cleaned of a thick, oily residue.

Clean-up effortstook months to complete, butRozhen Asrani, president of the Mimico Residents Association, said people living in the community have lingering concerns about how much the runoff affected local ecology.

"The creek looks to have gone mostly back to normal, but there continues to be a lot of unanswered questions about the level of contamination, the status of the restorationand the long-term impacts to the aquatic habitat, to the watershed and to wildlife in this area," Asrani told CBC Toronto.

"So while we don't see the thick brown sludge that was visible on the water last August, we don't know what is not visible to the naked eye."

Firefighters said the six-alarm blazeon Aug. 11, 2023, was "one of the more significant fires" the city had seen in years. It tore through the chemical wholesaler's facility on Vulcan Avenue and poured thick black smoke into the air for nearly 12 hours. More than 100 firefighters were needed to put it out.

Brenntag Canada deals in oil and vehicle fluids, such as lubricants and solvents. These substances, along with fire-retardantchemicals, made their way into the creeks.

In an email, aspokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said the "major portion" of the oil spill cleanup was completed by Aug. 21, 2023. Meanwhile, a comprehensive shoreline cleanup was finished last December.

"The ministry continues to maintain oversight of the company's ongoing monitoring of the impacted areas, which will continue into 2025, to ensure Ontario's strict environmental standards continue to be met," Lindsay Davidson said.

According to Davidson, BrenntagCanada estimated that roughly 6.5 million litres of "emulsified oil slurry" was removed from Mimico and Humber creeks during the initial containment and clean-up phase after the fire. The slurry was transported to ministry-approved waste sites for disposal, Davidson said.

In the aftermath of the spill, the ministry collected water samples to "characterize and document contamination downstream of the discharge points and assess the extent of environmental impacts in Mimico and Humbercreeks," she said.

BrenntagCanada similarlyinstalled water monitoringstations in five spotsalongMimico Creek and three in Humber Creek downstream of containment booms, as well as several more monitoring stations closer to Lake Ontario.

"The results indicated that the main sources of contaminants were petroleum hydrocarbons and fire suppression materials," Davidson said.

Residents have been toldby the ministry there was no ongoing hazard to human health, Asrani said, but somein the area feel they're in the dark about the current state of the creeks.

"What was the level of contamination and the concentration at that time versus now? And what was the impact?" she said."Those questions have not been answered."

Residents have also voiced concerns about what they felt was a"slow and poorly co-ordinated response" to the spill thatallowed contamination to travel all the way downstream to Lake Ontario,Asrani said.

"Where's the accountability for that from the Environment Ministry and various other public agencies that were involved?" Asrani said.

In addition to the provincial Environment Ministry and Brenntag Canada, the City of TorontoandToronto and Region Conservation Authority played various roles in responding to the spill.

Asrani said her association has called on those agencies to publicly communicate any known effects of the spill and develop strategies to respond more effectively in the future, but hasnot heard back.

"Unfortunately, Mimico Creek is already a very stressed environment and this is not the first spill that's happened here, nor will it be the last. We need a better strategy going forward to protect the environment here and to have a better, more timely, more appropriate and more robust response when spills do occur,"Asrani said.

"We have not received any information that there's going to be a plan to improve our response to spills."

Davidson, the Environment Ministry spokesperson, reiterated in her email that in the wake of the initial spill, Brenntag Canada set up a hotline residents can call with questions. The number is1-800-590-4127.