Firefighting foam spills into Abbotsford’s Stoney Creek
Posted July 4, 2024 7:05 pm.
The City of Abbotsford says it’s working to mitigate the worst effects of firefighting foam that was accidentally spilled into Stoney Creek.
In an announcement Thursday, the city says it’s collaborating with both the Ministry of Environment and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to keep the spill contained and have it remediated.
“The spill resulted from firefighting foam being accidentally released from a disconnected hose and entering the storm drain and the waterway,” the announcement said.
Abbotsford Fire Chief Erick Peterson tells CityNews that the department is currently investigating the cause of the spill.
He says the foam is a common suppressant used by firefighters everywhere.
“We use it to ‘make water wetter’ — is what we use to describe it. It allows [water] to penetrate and fight fire more effectively, and usually it’s in a concentration that is watered down. It’s watered down typically — used in percentages of one to three per cent. And what it appears is that a concentration of firefighting foam went into the storm sewer, and not just the watered down or diluted firefighting foam,” said Peterson.
He says the city has hired a third-party contractor to investigate the long-term effects of contamination, adding that some of the short-term effects are already apparent.
“There’s a visible distraction of the foam that has entered this causeway, and unfortunately, we are becoming aware of some aquatic life death. We’ve lost a few fish,” said Peterson.
He emphasizes that the city and the department take the incident “extremely seriously” and are doing everything they can to fix the problem.
“This is a terrible incident, and I feel really terrible. I feel horribly that this has occurred. So we don’t want this to occur again, and we’re going to work proactively to make sure this doesn’t occur again.”
