“We’ve told them to make sure they do the cleanup,” said Mayor Stéphane Sarrazin of Alfred-Plantagenet Township, during a phone interview April 7. “They are taking care of the cleanup.” 

A tanker truck belonging to W.O. Stinson Ltd. was making a home delivery in late February to a house on Concession 6 in the rural area of Plantagenet. There had been a heavy snowfall the night before and the road wasn’t plowed yet. The oil truck and a small passenger car were trying to pass each other on the road. The oil truck went off the road and rolled over into the ditch. 

The oil truck was pulled out of the ditch. Its oil tank was not ruptured and the truck was taken away. More than a month later as the spring melt was in progress, Alfred-Plantagenet municipal office received an anonymous call about signs of oil in the water of the ditch. A call to the oil company confirmed that a small amount of motor oil had leaked out of the truck’s engine when it toppled over into the ditch. 

The company is now doing a containment-and-cleanup operation at the site. Filter bag barriers were set in place above and below the site of the accident to contain any motor oil that might be in the ditch water. A drill test is also planned to check below the ground surface for any signs of motor oil leaching into the soil. 

“But this (accident) should have been reported immediately,” said Mayor Sarrazin. 

Company officials have told the municipality that there should be no problems for any residential wells nearby. Any homeowners in the area who do have concerns about their well water should contact the municipality.