Three Oaks Senior High School oil spill reached 11,000 litres, says official

An oil tank leakatThree Oaks Senior High School in Summersideon the weekendis now being called a significant spill by the provincial department of environment.

Barry Jackson, theenvironmental regulatory coordinator with the province, estimates11,000 litres spilled from the 26-year-old tank, which had rusted out at the bottom. The tank had a 22,000-litre capacity.

He says "human error and improper maintenance" led to the incident. The leak should have been stopped by a concrete containment area around the tank, but a drainage pipe in poor condition let the oil seep into the ground.

Jackson says the containment area will only work when it's plugged and in this case the "drain was damaged and the plug wasn't working properly."

An 'unfortunate incident'

Over the holidayweekend, someone on schoolgrounds noticed the leakand called for help. They then stuffed the leaking drainwith a rag. Summerside's fire department responded.

Fire Chief Jim Petersoriginally estimated the spill at a couple of hundred litres.

School officials arrived at the school Saturday evening to assess the spill.

"It's an unfortunate incident," said English Language School Board director John Cummings. "We are working with the Department of Environment and environmental consultants to clean up the area."

Cleanup to take weeks

A pit nearthe tank has been dug to assess the damage. There's a high concentration of oil mixed in with the water in the pit.

The school board maintains that its tanks are checked regularly, but those checks should include the drains, Jackson said.

Environmental officials say the water supply maintainedby the municipal water service is not at risk. However, crews will be bringing in specialized pumping and treatment systemssoon.

"The site is fairly wet. There's clay soils and a fairly high water table, so that will present some challenges to recover the fuel oil," Jackson said.

The work is expected to take a month or more.Ongoing assessments will continue to be madeto soil and ground water conditions.