An official at Executive Flight Centre, headquartered in Calgary and servicing numerous areas in Western Canada, has confirmed it was one of their tankers that spilled almost all of it’s 35,000 litre load into Lemon Creek near Slocan, B.C. on Friday, July 26.
Wayne Smook, senior vice president of airport services, was reached by telephone Saturday, July 27 and said the company was responding as best as they possibly can.
“The latest update I have — and it’s difficult to get information from a remote location — is that the driver of the tanker had sustained minor injuries,” said Smook. “Obviously, he’s very shook up about the incident.”
Smook said he was waiting on a conference call for additional information and updates.
“A couple of our people were dispatched last night and another group are on their way,” he said. “We have an environmental company on the ground working with the various officials there for containment and also for clean-up. Other crews have also been sent to remove the truck and de-fuel it.”
Smook said more crews are on their way to the site of the spill.
“We have the resources necessary to assist in the cleanup,” he said. “We have an exemplary record with fuel and this has certainly taken us aback. We deeply regret the incident and feel for the people locally who have been evacuated. Our hearts go out to them and we have concerns for our driver as well.”
Smook said he had not spoken with the driver of the tanker and that it was going to take time to complete the investigation and look at all contributing factors to the incident.
“We don’t want to speculate on anything at this point in time or get in front of any kind of investigation that will take place from various authorities,” he said. “From our standpoint, we want to make sure we cover all our bases and make sure that incidents like this don’t happen again.”
