Crews continue working to clean up an estimated 1300 gallons of crude oil that spilled into the St. Clair River Thursday afternoon. The leak was reported just before 2 p.m. at Suncor’s Sarnia refinery, prompting a response from multiple agencies on both sides of the border. Director of St. Clair County Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Justin Westmiller, provided an overnight update to WPHM.
“All the oil is floating on the top of the water… they’re skimming the oil off the water as we speak.”
Crews from both sides of the border responded, with an alert being issued from Saint Clair Township, Ontario initially stated to not drink the water. However, that alert was quickly rescinded, with officials saying the spill had no impact on the township’s drinking water. Westmiller adds that there was also no impact to water supplies on the US side of the river, however as a precaution, most local municipalities temporarily closed their water intakes following the spill.
