BRACEBRIDGE - A fuel spill at the popular Annie Williams Memorial Park has caused a roughly 20-foot area of the park to be cordoned off.
The spill was reported Thursday evening and originated from a fuel storage tank at the one of the park’s old brick sheds.
John Sisson, the Chief Administrative Officer with the Town of Bracebridge, said an environmental services company has visited the site and is developing a remediation plan.
“They have contained the spill, and we’ll get a remediation plan from them and get it cleaned up as quick as we can,” said Sisson.
Comco Canada Inc. is assisting the town in responding to the spill. They provide site assessments, area containments and emergency spill responses.
The fuel sunk into the ground and Comco has conducted some on-site landscaping to prevent it from spreading further.
“They’ve dug some controlled trenches around the area and they are approximately 20 feet out from the building itself. That’s really the extent of the area they're working in at the present time,” Sisson said. “It’s not an exceptionally large area, but they are working to keep any dogs or animals from getting near it.”
The Ministry of the Environment has been notified of the spill and the town plans to work with ministry officials throughout the cleanup process.
Due to the limited size of the spill, Annie Williams Park remains open to the public.
There is no reason to believe that the spill was intentional.
“I don’t have a specific answer as to how it happened, but for some reason a valve on the tank was opened obviously, accidentally. The fuel spilt from the tank and was not noticed when it happened,” Sisson said.