EDMONTON -- Initial tests confirm that potentially harmful pole-treating oil was spilled near an Alberta lake by a derailed Canadian National rail car, Alberta Environment announced Wednesday.
But officials said they won't know if the amount spilled Aug. 3 is enough to pose a threat to human health until water test results from Lake Wabamun and wells in the area west of Edmonton are available later this week.
“Unfortunately our suspicions about this substance are now confirmed,” Environment Minister Guy Boutilier said in a release.
“The public needs to keep away from the spill area and the lake until we have the results of our water tests.”
Health officials said residents should not use water from wells within half a kilometre of the spill site or from the lake until further notice.
The risk to human health will depend on exposure to the pole-treating oil and the concentration of the substance in the water, an Alberta Environment official said.
The oil contains polycyclic aromatic compounds, which can cause skin cancer.
CN Rail has been under fire for not telling residents or Alberta Environment last week that one of the derailed cars was carrying the potentially harmful substance.
Residents were also urged Wednesday not to handle wildlife hurt by the spill, which included 70,000 litres of thick, gooey bunker C oil.
Federal Environment Minister Stephane Dion is to tour the Wabamun area Thursday.
Environmental groups have called on Ottawa to prosecute CN for the spill and for another train accident last week near Squamish, B.C., that sent thousands of litres of toxic sodium hydroxide into the Cheakamus River.
Don Goss, who owns a cottage on Lake Wabamun, said he took no solace in Wednesday's test results announcement.
Goss said he hopes Dion's presence will put pressure on CN.
“I hope his visit results in the truth coming out,” Goss said. “I hope he holds CN accountable.”
Alberta's opposition parties accused Alberta Environment of being unprepared for the spill.
New Democrat environment critic David Eggen called for a moratorium on industrial development near the lake.
“This Conservative government has failed the residents and recreational users of this important lake big time,” Eggen said.
Liberal Hugh MacDonald has written a letter to federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre asking him to change legislation to classify such substances as bunker C oil and pole-treating oil as dangerous goods.
In British Columbia, the province announced it is putting together a task force to develop a recovery plan for the Cheakamus River spill.
The group will include the provincial government, CN Rail, the federal Fisheries Department and the Squamish First Nation. Its first job will be to find out how much fish stocks, wildlife and habitat were harmed, the B.C. environment ministry said.
CN will be responsible for implementing the plan.