The situation has gotten much better since Sunday evening when a petroleum product was discovered coming down Mimico Creek. We have been incredibly busy bringing attention to this issue and you can see some media coverage at the end of this email. If you don’t follow us on Social Media yet, we’re pretty fast to share things on reddit (this brought attention) and instagram these days.
After reporting the spill, we got in touch with Councillor Amber Morley’s office and got to speak with City staff to support them with local observations, including nesting bird locations. Thanks Friends of Humber Bay Park & Toronto Wildlife Centre for giving interviews with us.
We thank Councillor Morley and team for responding to the serious concerns quickly. Here is their statement from Tuesday:
“City staff have advised that conditions are improving, cleanup and monitoring remain underway, and our drinking water supply has not been affected.
Residents who notice visible sheen, odour, impacted areas, or concerns with containment equipment are asked to report it to 311 with the exact location, time, and any photos or videos available.
You can also share those details with our office as well so we can continue flagging local concerns directly with City staff.
I will continue to monitor the response and share updates as more information becomes available.”
All eyes on the Ministry
Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks told the CBC on Monday already that “No impacts to fish or aquatic wildlife have been observed”.
Meanwhile local experts from Toronto Wildlife Centre are observing and documenting the impacts on wildlife.
What happened in 2023?
The cause of the August 2023 Brenntag fire seems to still be unknown, and we can’t find any public record of any fine or charge tied to the spill into Mimico Creek. The Narwhal, reviewing an internal ministry incident report, found the cleanup faltered early:
Problems arose on that first day of the cleanup, Aug. 11, 2023, when GFL staff failed to install booms and hay-bales along Humber Creek to soak up the oil, as the ministry had instructed them to do. “GFL admitted to forgetting and is currently arranging crews to attend,” the incident report reads.
In the weeks that followed, crews removed roughly 6.5 million litres of emulsified oil slurry from Mimico and Humber creeks. The toll on wildlife was severe: the Toronto Wildlife Centre reported thousands of dead fish along with ducks, a beaver and a mink, while dozens of surviving waterfowl had to be captured and cleaned of oily residue. When forecast rain fell on August 18, the containment booms along Mimico Creek breached and oil reached Lake Ontario at Humber Bay Park.
Not even 3 years later, residents are watching a petroleum product flow down the same creek and are asking the same question: Who, if anyone, will be held accountable?
How long will it take the Ministry?
Thanks to the incredibly useful Open Data Portal the City of Toronto operates, it took us less than 5 minutes to visualize the underground pipes & tunnels that collect from stormwater grates and send it to Mimico Creek.
How long will it take the Ministry to find out how the diesel got into the stormwater system?
Media Coverage
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Toronto Star, June 23: Diesel spill cleanup in Mimico Creek stretches into third day: “It all smells like gasoline”
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CP24: Crews responding to diesel spill at Etobicoke’s Mimico Creek
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CBC: Cleanup efforts underway after diesel spill in Mimico Creek, city says
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CityNews: Diesel spill contained in Mimico Creek, city and province launch cleanup and investigation
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CBC News Toronto TV below
Let’s take good care of this place, together, Mimico!