Officials are urging users of water from southern Alberta’s Little Bow River and Travers Reservoir to shut down those uses until further notice, following a farm fertilizer spill.
The province’s environment department said about 9,800 litres of liquid urea ammonium nitrate were “accidentally released” Wednesday from a container on private land in Vulcan County, northeast of Carmangay, about 60 km north of Lethbridge.
“Some quantity” of the spill is now believed to have entered the Little Bow River, given “observed fish kills in the vicinity of the spill,” the province said.
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Sampling so far on the river at the spill site and downstream confirm levels of nitrate and ammonia “harmful” for fish, but otherwise “far within provincial and federal health guidelines.”
No pollutants have so far been detected further than three km from the spill site, officials said.
However, “until we know more about the behaviour of the spill in the Little Bow River all water users along (the) river are urged to close intake until further notice,” the province said Friday evening.
Once more sample results have been assessed, the province said, “we will advise users of the results and issue further instructions.” — AGCanada.com Network
