(United Press International circulated the following article on August 14.)
EDMONTON, AB, Canada — Canada’s largest freight railroad company has been given strict deadlines by the government to cleanup an oil spill west of Edmonton.
Thousands of liters of oil spilled into the Wabamun Lake and surrounding land Aug. 3 when Canadian National Rail cars jumped the tracks, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reports.
Alberta province environmental regulators told CN Rail they have until Monday to contain oil on the surface of the lake, until Tuesday to have a cleanup plan for the shore and until Thursday to have a monitoring plan.
Albert Poulette, a compliance officer with Alberta Environment, said the timelines were aggressive on purpose — and he won’t preclude going to court if they aren’t met.
The president of CN Rail, Hunter Harrison, took out a full page ad in area newspapers, apologizing for the spill and promising to fix any problems.