Oil Spill Update: Work Continues

There was a morning update from the Crisis Response Team on Kahnawake 911. We carried their live on K1037. Work continues on the clean-up and mitigation of the spill. Environmental Health Services’ Technician Jay Dearhouse:

“The affected home is no longer alerting the combustible gas meter in the sump pit or the house. The smell has been reduced greatly with the aggressive use of the air exchanger in the home, so, we’re hoping that we can help the homeowner get back into their house soon. We are also continuing with routine well-monitoring in the area and we are also adding hydro-carbon analysis tests to the wells we’re doing in and near the affected areas. These tests are in addition to the routine  well monitoring.”

Commissioner of Public Safety Lloyd Phillips on priorities:

“There has been great collaboration internally amongst various departments and organizations within the community, proving that our response is getting results, positive results as we move forward and also that response to any inquires is done effectively and efficiently. For example, last night there was a concern raised with our representative from Kahnawa:ke Environment Protection who went out there, with the air quality monitoring, were able to get results within a matter of hours, all showing that there were no concerns at this point in time. As we always said, we’re continuing monitoring as we move forward to ensure that the situation remains stable and remains safe. Again, safety and health of individuals is our number one priority.”

Phillips saying that the cost of the clean up has yet to be determined, saying that it will only be done once they have the full scope and containment of the fuel. To date, not including man hours, they have so far expended close to 100K. Director of the Kahnawà:ke Environment Protection Office Benjamin Green-Stacey on clean-up developments:

“The outcome from out walk through in Chateauguay, with Canada, Quebec, Chateauguay and many representatives from the MCK has paid off. There is a significant amount of work that’s been planned  and is now starting. Public Work crews in Chateauguay as well as crews from MELCCFP or the Quebec Environment Ministry are on-site right now.”

Ratitsénhaienhs Cody Diabo on the MCK’s pledge of support:

“From the council’s side on Monday, the council did pass a request for decision or ‘RFD’ as we call it, which would allocate $500 Thousand Dollars to Public Safety in terms of administering this whole response. We want to ensure that there’s no interruptions in any type of works or equipment that is needed, can be properly acquired quickly so that there’s no delay in any type of response and just going forward, there’s a lot of commitment to make sure that we are still speaking with community members in the area as well as the parents for the school in the area.”

The money approved by the MCK has been pledged through Public Safety and the ‘Emergency Response Fund,’ for the cleanup. There is more information readily available at Kahnawakeresponse.com