About 300 litres of mineral oil spilled onto the road during last week's Hillside Drive backhoe incident but it is not known how much ended up in a catch basin that drains into Horne Lake, says the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.
As ElliotLakeToday reported earlier, a contractor's backhoe pulled down a hydro pole and three transformers on June 19 after becoming tangled in communications lines above the city's Hillside Drive project.
That incident resulted in mineral oil from the transformers spilling onto the road, and into the catch basin, the ministry confirmed today.
"Mineral oil floats on water and is not expected to be harmful to aquatic life," said Gary Wheeler, an Environment Ministry spokesperson. "Ministry staff have not observed any impacts to the lake other than a surface sheen."
Wheeler said Hydro One reported the spill to the ministry and a GFL cleanup crew was accompanied by ministry officials on Friday.
"GFL has absorbent material and booms at the outlet of Horne Lake to contain the spill near the shoreline. A second boom will be placed across the lake," said Wheeler.
He said the ministry is still contact with Hydro One and GLF and will follow up "with all parties about measures to prevent future spills."