An oil spill occurred near Topley Landing in Babine Lake on March 18 after a transport barge operated by Babine Barge experienced a mechanical problem.
The barge was contracted to Canadian Forest Products (Canfor) in Houston and the incident saw some oil released into the lake, Michelle Ward, Director of Corporate Communications with Canfor, told Lakes District News.
A total of 150 litres of gear oil spilled into the water from the barge, said Suzannah Kelly, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.
The oil capacity of the barge is 690 litres.
Over three days, cleanup crews, using absorbent pads and booms recovered about 60 litres, Kelly said.
Of the remaining 90 litres, about 85 litres is unrecoverable due to evaporation, dilution and dispersion. Another 5 litres was observed on the open water by a plane with the Transport Canada National Surveillance Program and is mostly unrecoverable.
Most of the open water section of the lake was inspected during the cleanup but ice buildup prevented some inspection and recovery.
On March 19 the First Nation Health Authority told the Lake Babine Nation (LBN) that residents of the Tachet Reserve could resume drawing water through their water intake from the lake.
Several agencies including the ministries of the Environment and Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, health authorities, local First Nations were notified and some joined the inspection.
An LBN fisheries biologist went to the spill site as an observer.
Cleanup efforts and water sampling by Babine Barge were ongoing and LBN and Yekooche First Nation would be given updates.
Blair McBrideMultimedia reporter
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