By Sarah Rae

N.B. mayor satisfied with response to oil spill

Jul 27, 2016 | 7:00 PM

A week after an oil spill affected North Battleford’s water supply, the mayor says he’s satisfied with the response from the oil company, province and city.

Mayor Ian Hamilton said he’s in regular contact with officials from Husky and the province. He added everyone seems to be cooperating well in order to minimize the impact of the spill.

“We all want the best for the citizens of North Battleford and that is to re-establish our water supply back to its normal state so that life returns to normal for our citizens,” he said.

Last week between 200,000 and 250,000 litres of oil spilled into the North Saskatchewan River from a Husky Energy pipeline near Maidstone, affecting North Battleford and Prince Albert’s water supplies and many First Nations.

Hamilton said he’s spoken with the CEO of Husky, who expressed his support and commitment to making things right.

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He said Premier Brad Wall offered to tour the affected areas, specifically North Battleford and Prince Albert, on Thursday but Hamilton said they decided to delay the visit until there is more information available.

“What we’re looking for is a few more results from testing and assessment and analysis of the current situation,” he said. “When we do ask him to come out we’re prepared to make known to him what we need to do in order to secure our water supply, and make him aware of the expenditures and the extent of measures that we may have to make to mitigate the situation.”

One concern the experts are looking at now is whether oil might be settling into the ground, which presents entirely different problems to address, according to Hamilton. He said he and everyone involved is awaiting with great anticipation various test results to find out the extent of the impact.

He said some additional information should be available within the next 24 to 36 hours.

Sarah Rae is battlefordsNOW’s court and crime reporter. She can be reached at Sarah.Rae@jpbg.ca or tweet her @sarahjeanrae.