Subject: Response from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
To: Mimico Residents Association
Thank you for your email to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (ministry) regarding the cleanup of the spill resulting from a 6-alarm fire on August 11, 2023, at Brenntag Canada Inc., located at 35 Vulcan Street, Toronto.
The ministry takes environmental concerns seriously and is committed to ensuring that Ontarians have clean and safe air, land, and water.
The ministry’s role is to ensure that those responsible for any environmental impacts take all necessary measures to contain and clean up the spill and restore the environment. Under the Environmental Protection Act, it is the duty of the owner or controller of a spilled pollutant to clean up the spill. They must do everything practicable to prevent and eliminate the negative effects from a spill, including restoring the natural environment to its original state.
Brenntag Canada Inc., as the responsible party, immediately retained a cleanup contractor that specialises in containment and cleanup of the runoff from the fire.
The spill from the Brenntag site impacted the Humber Creek, Mimico Creek, and the
Humber Bay Park area. The contents of the spill included several chemical products that were on-site at the time of the incident, the majority being petroleum based, as well as contaminated water from the douse water and foam used to extinguish the fire.
Since the morning of August 11, 2023, ministry staff continue to monitor and are actively engaged with Brenntag Canada Inc., its cleanup contractor, staff from the City of Toronto, and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to ensure that the responsible parties take all necessary and appropriate actions.
At the onset of the incident, the City of Toronto’s water treatment plants were notified of the spill to ensure that the city’s drinking water supply was not impacted. The city’s water treatment plant staff have advised the ministry that the municipal drinking water supply continues to be safe.
The ministry has also conducted sampling of the spill to characterize the impacts on the surface water quality, sediment, soil, and vegetation along the creeks and the Humber Bay Park area. While the technical analysis of the samples is currently underway, results to date confirm that petroleum-based products are the main contributor to the ecological impacts. The ministry continues to process the samples and gather information to assess the extent of environmental impacts.
Initial clean-up efforts were prioritized to contain the oil slurry material first using a variety of containment devices, such as booms, vacuum trucks, storage tanks and boats. Ten containment locations were set up along Mimico Creek, Humber Creek, and the Humber Bay Park area to contain the material. The oil slurry material has been contained and removed from the Humber Bay Park containment area.
Clean-up efforts are currently focused on cleaning the Brenntag site and removing any residual material captured in the city’s storm sewer, creek banks, and shoreline. This is a controlled process, which is weather dependent and additional cleanup of the residual material will likely continue until October.
As the clean-up continues, the ministry has required the company to submit a remediation and restoration plan to restore the natural environment as much as practicably possible to its pre-spill conditions. This plan is expected to be received by mid-October. Upon acceptance of the plan, Brenntag will implement the remediation and restoration activities, which the ministry will monitor for completion.
The ministry required the company to post signs at the Brenntag site and the clean-up locations. The company worked with Toronto Parks to post additional signage at parks and trails leading to the impacted creeks. Residents are encouraged to take note of the signs posted and keep their pets away from the containment locations where environmental restoration work is underway.
Impacts to wildlife have been observed, including dead fish, ducks, and beavers. ECCC is working with the company to assess impacts to wildlife and has required the company to develop a wildlife response plan, which has been submitted for review. The company has also retained an environmental consultant to conduct environmental surveys in the impacted area and is coordinating efforts with Toronto Wildlife Centre, a non-profit organization, to rescue and rehabilitate the impacted wildlife.
The ministry will remain actively engaged with all relevant parties and continue monitoring the situation. This will include assessing the clean-up efforts to ensure appropriate measures are in place, as well as ensuring Brenntag Canada Inc. takes all practicable actions to address the negative impacts from the spill and restore the natural environment to its original state.
Once the cleanup and restoration is completed, the ministry will require the company to provide a report of the incident, including the cause of the fire, clean-up efforts, and measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
For information on impacted wildlife, residents can contact ECCC directly by email at cnue-neec@ec.gc.ca.
For any wildlife observed as being in distress, a report can be submitted to the Toronto Wildlife Centre through their online reporting form.
For the most up-to-date information on the cleanup efforts, residents can contact the ministry’s Toronto District Office Duty Line at 416-326-3381 during regular business hours. After hours, residents can call the ministry’s Pollution Hotline at 1-866-663-8477.
Thank you again for writing.
Sincerely,
Dr. Rachael Fletcher, PhD
Director, Central Region
Drinking Water and Environmental Compliance Division
Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks